Spy School: Clash of Spies
by Sojie204
Summary: There's a new girl at Spy School who is as good, maybe even better, than the great Erica Hale. Erica, obviously, is not happy about her arrival, whereas Ben is thrilled. Audrey isn't just as good of a spy as Erica, she is pretty, smart and even better, friendly. But things aren't always what they seem. Erica and Audrey have a secret, but can Ben figure it out before it's too late?
1. Capture the Flag

**Hello! This is my brand new Spy School Fanfiction! This story's been rattling around in my head for a while, so I'm so glad I'm finally putting it in print! I did a SS FF in the past and had so much fun with it!**

 **To be clear, this does not in any way correlate with my other one, Spy School Turns Evil, and this is in between Spy School Secret Service and Spy School Goes South.**

 **I am a writer that doesn't believe in super long chapters, but believes in shorter updates. I will try to post every one to four (at the most) days. I do shorter chapters and quicker updates. And let me promise you: I WILL FINISH MY STORIES! I get so annoyed when I like a story but the writer doesn't and discontinuous it. No matter how bad I think it is, I will finish it.**

 **Finally, I LOVE comments and reviews! :) I am still in middle school, thus my writing isn't amazing, so I love to hear from my senior writers and readers that enjoy or have constructive criticism about my work.**

 **Anyway, please enjoy my new Spy School story, Clash of Spies! :)**

I scrambled through the forest, vegetation tearing at my knees. Clutching my gun, I stumbled over a root, rolling and falling down the hill. Bullets raced over my head, and I dodged them quickly. The smell of latex fills the air.

Another paintball splats on the ground next to me and I scramble for cover. Finding none, I am an easy target for my shooter. I try to run, but no luck. The paintball whacks me on the back and another on my leg. The impact makes me fall and I crash to the ground. Even though I was "dead" in my school paintball fight, I didn't care. I whooped in joy because finals were over! After two long, grueling weeks, I had finally taken all my exams from my second year of The Academy of Espionage. I was on to my third year of Spy School. I honestly can't believe I was alive this long. Evil organizations repeatedly tried to kill me with missiles, guns, bombs and virally everything else. Even though that sucked, Spy School was way better than my old middle school.

Head whipping around, I try to pinpoint my attacker. In a tree, about eighty yards away, I see her. Erica Hale. Gun cocked, she was sniping people from her tree. Erica just finished her fourth year of Spy School and was going on her fifth, though technically she was in the business longer than all of us. Her great-great-great… something grandfather was none only than Nathan Hale himself. Her family has been all talented spies and even though she was over eighty yards away, she still hit me dead on. Not only is Erica super talented, she is also stunningly beautiful. She has dark, wavy hair, piercing blue eyes, and perfect bone structure. She also could render twenty heavily armed men unconscious in a matter of seconds. My ideal women. My first gigantic crush. The only con was that she had no emotion at all or even didn't want to have any friends. She called friends and relationships a 'liability in the spy world', which I guess is true. I am the closest thing anyone would call a friend of hers, and I haven't talked to her in over three weeks. She is known throughout the school as the "Ice Queen", meaning she is always icy, which is also true.

But recently, she has been even _more_ icier than usual, which scared everyone at school. Erica doesn't like to share emotions or show them, no matter what was going on, so her being upset was unsettling. There was rumors spreading around that she flunked one of her exams, but I knew that was all speculation. Erica had never gotten anything lower than an A+ at this school, whereas I am a D- average student. Give me regular school, I'll give you an A+. Spy School? If I got an A it would be a miracle. She was acting like this even before exams and finals even started.

Anyway, Erica had been more snappish to the few people she talked to and was giving everyone the cold shoulder. I was shocked when she agreed to play this war game. This game wasn't assigned by the professors and it was a fun way to let loose after the finals everyone was stressing about. Practically the whole school was involved and it was a lot of fun. But Erica never does anything like this. When she said yes, I was pleasantly surprised. If Erica has any free time, you'll probably find her in the Target Range or Training Center.

As I was heading to the "morgue" (tents on sideline of the battlefield), I noticed a great deal of people from my team heading towards the tents because they were shot. There were a significant amount, even more than usual, and they were all saying Erica had shot them. I wasn't surprised, I knew Erica was capable of this, but I was surprised she did it. She knew she could win with her on one team and the rest of the school on the other, but as she claims, "It takes the fun out of everything."

We were losing by a lot and most of my team were here. We looked up and saw Erica still in that same tree, still sniping people left and right. They would be taken by surprise, thinking no one was around and suddenly have a paintball on their chest. The morgue was filling up and a lot of people from my team, the blue team, were spitting curses at her. I saw my friend Mike come around a bush with a bright red splat on his shirt.

He grinned sheepishly, "Hey Ben, what's up?" Mike was my best friend. I had known him since we were babies and while I grew up to be some unpopular, awkward kid, he grew up to be a popular, star athlete and ladies man. At my old middle school, he dated the most pretty and popular girl there. Mike always took the easy class for the easy A and was a star pitcher on the school baseball team. He got recruited to the school during a mission in Colorado, and had to actually challenge himself at Spy School. But he was doing well because of his outside-the-box thinking and athletic abilities. Before Mike knew anything about Erica and her lack of emotions, he tried to ask her out because she was so hot, thinking 'All the ladies love me; I'm cute and charming' and received a punch in the throat and a decisive no. He quickly got over her.

"Not much. You got killed by Erica?" He nodded and smiled,

"I think everyone here was killed by Erica." I shrug.

"How was your finals?" I asked Mike.

"Good, I think. The weaponry one was ify; I totally forgot about studying for the bow and arrow part. But I actually defused my bomb under twenty minutes, so that should give me a good score. How about you?." Mike grinned.

I didn't want to mention the fact it took me over a hour to defuse my bomb.

I give a fake smile, "Good as well."

"Okay, good. Oh!" Mike turned to face me with a look of excitement on his features, "I heard a rumor today! Apparently, the word on the street is that there is a new girl at the school, but she was so talented, she's going to be starting the new year as a fourth year! Can you believe it? She must be Erica good, maybe even better!" This took me by surprise. Even Erica didn't skip a ton of grades when she got here. She started as sophomore.

"What are you losers talking about?" My friend Jawa walked over. He, too, was splattered with red but this time it was more of a surprise. Jawa is smart, fun and athletic. He is a wonderful spy and can handle a gun very well. He isn't the type to go out early.

"You're already out?" I ask.

"Yeah," he sighed, "Erica's been taking people out left and right. She got me. The game's almost over actually. Erica's strategy is to take everyone on our team out before she even attempts to grab the flag. She's being a poor sport about it all. If you don't want to play, then don't play. Don't ruin it for everyone." Mike and I nod in agreement.

"Well, Ben and I were talking about this rumor about a new girl at Spy School." Mike said.

"Rumor?" Jawa snorted, "For a bunch of spies, you guys should know this. It's no rumor. The girl is real, and a stunner. She's in my grade. She did so well on her introduction SACCA's that she skipped so many grades. She got high marks on different categories as well. I met her yesterday and she's in some of my classes. I was meaning to introduce her to you guys."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well, to start, she's a one hot girl. Also, she's about my age, but Mike, didn't you start as a first year even though you were the same age as Ben when he was a second year?" Mike nodded, "Yeah. This girl went straight to a frickin fourth year! I worked my ass off to get here and she gets to waltz in and start as a fourth year! Anyway, you should meet her." Jawa smiled.

Mike grinned eagerly. I was fairly sure he didn't hear anything else Jawa said other than that she was hot.

"I'd love too." I said for the both of us.

As Jawa was about to reply, I heard booing and curses coming from both teams. We looked over and saw our whole blue team on the sidelines. There were virtually no red players in the tent, but it doesn't mean they were happy about Erica making it a one-man show.

Erica was scrambling down the tree and ran over to where the blue team flag was stored. Some first year had picked it up and was planning to return it, but she ripped it out of his hands in a menacing fashion and walked over to the tents.

"Wow," Mike whispered, "That was like the fastest capture the flag game ever." I agreed. These games normally last around one or two hours; this was over in around a half an hour, courtesy of Erica Hale.

The red team started walking back as well. All around me, I heard whispered curses and grumbles at Erica. None of them were loud enough to reach her ears though. She stormed over and practically threw the blue flag at our team.

"There you go. Game over." She snapped at all of us. Everyone looked pissed, but no one had the guts to say anything. Everyone except Greg and Chip.

The hunks of meat stormed over to where Erica was standing and everyone started crowding around, both teams alike, expecting a fight.

"What the hell?" Greg snarled, fists balled up.

Chip was my friend and Greg was Chip's friend. They are both a whole lot of brawn and very little brain. Chip was really handsome and I could see no sign that he hit puberty on his body. He has sand colored hair and he had a perfect tan, despite being in Washington DC. If I were to draw a stereotypical spy, I would draw him.

Greg, however, was not nearly as good looking as Chip. It seemed as if puberty never left Greg. He had ugly pimples all over his face and his hair was a greasy mess. Heck, I've been at this school for over two years now and never once seen him enter the shower. But he was an exceptional fighter, mostly because of his big build.

Anyway, Erica whirled around and gave Greg and Chip a death stare. "Excuse me?"

"What's your problem? If you didn't want to play, then don't! Don't ruin it for everyone! It's not fun for the red team or our team if you're just sniping people from a tree, making it a solo game! You're such an a**hole, ya piece of s**t!" Greg snarled in her face. Everyone around eyes' widened and thought Greg was dead. They silently started making bets.

Erica was just going to walk away and take the high road, but stopped short when she heard Greg call her an a**hole. No one spoke to Erica in this way.

"What did you call me?" Her voice was dangerously calm. Some teachers started to come over to see what was going on and instead of being good teachers and stopping it, they started making their own bets.

"You heard me." Greg stood his ground. Chip noticed the change in tide and backed quietly back into the crowd.

"You have one second to apologize or I'm going to make you sorry." Erica growled.

Mike, having guts, and an idiotic brain, tried to break it up. He walked between them.

"Hey, hey, now. It was just a game. No need to get physical." People around him started to hiss at him to get out of the way, so they could win money in the bets.

Erica accepted this, gave Greg a dark look and started to turn around, away from the fight.

Greg, however, was getting madder. He shoved Mike hard, making him stumble into the crowd where someone caught him. Greg even went as far as to grab Erica's arm as she turned away.

"Come back her here, princess." Greg snarled, "I've always wanted to fight you. You're just an overshot, weak son of a b****h." Again, Greg's vocabulary wasn't the best. I saw Erica stiffen at the touch (she never touched anyone unless in combat.) I got worried. I saw where this was going. This was going to be a full-fledged brawl.

Erica turned around quickly, bring her fist with her. Her free arm smashed into Greg's throat. He gasped and stumbled back, letting her go. Instead of someone catching him from the crowd, they all backed up and let him thud to the ground. He swore.

I expected Erica to go away now, since he was down, but to my dread, she stayed put. Greg attempted to go for her legs from his awkward position, but she quickly jumped away. Greg staggered to his feet, fury etched in his expression. Not really thinking, he charged her. Erica used his momentum against him and she slid away. As he was falling, Erica quickly grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. He whimpered. She forced him to his knees.

"Don't touch me. Don't come near me. And don't talk to me, or I'll do worse to you." Erica pushed him down farther. Instead of surrendering, he spit on her shoes. That was it for Erica.

She flipped him on his back and put her boot right on his neck and started to push. Greg gasped for air. Alarmed, people around started to talk to Erica to try to get her release Greg. She took her foot off his neck and started to kick him. Legs, ribs, armpit, nuts. People tried to pry her off of him, but she just kicked them away. I was more than surprised. Even though Erica is talented at what she does, she doesn't like to hurt people, or so I thought. I thought she would walk away after he was down, but she kept kicking him, like a bully. My crush for her was diminishing.

Finally, with one swift kick, she knocked Greg out. Without looking at anyone, she broke away from the circle and disappeared into the Nathan Hale building.

XXX

"Woah." Jawa looked frightened as we walked toward the library.

"Yeah, I know." I shook a little bit.

"Wonder what sent her into this rage. It wasn't Greg; I could tell. Something else is bugging her and she took it out on Greg." I nodded. Greg wasn't her issue.

"She's been icier and colder than usual. I wonder what's up. Normally Erica doesn't display this much emotion. It's extreme, even for Erica, to ruin a capture the flag game in such an unsportsmanlike manner. Just sniping people from a tree doesn't make it a fun game and even Erica knows it."

"Eh. Whatever. I don't care that much. I texted Audrey. She said she was in the library. I'm excited for you to meet her." Jawa checked his phone. _Audrey must be the new girl._ I thought.

As we walked into the library, I spotted Mike talking to someone. As I got closer, I stopped dead in my tracks and my heart skipped a beat. She was gorgeous.

 **There is my first chapter! Let me know what you think of this new story! I LOVE to hear your thoughts and I will try to respond!**


	2. Audrey

**Happy late Halloween everybody! :) Hope you got a lot of candy. I sure did. I was going to post this yesterday, but then I'm like, "Its Halloween, what the heck?"**

 **I hope you call had a great Halloween and I am so thankful for everyone who read, reviewed and commented. It always warms my heart. Here's the next chapter! I'm glad people like it!**

I searched my head for something smooth. I came up empty.

"Um… hehe. Er… Hi. I'm uh… Ben. Pleasure to meet you." My whole face turned tomato red.

"Smooth." Mike hissed under his breath. I kicked him in the shin.

Audrey was a blonde beauty and contrary to the stereotype, looked very intelligence. She had a bright smile and smooth skin, without a trace of a pimple. She had a delicate build and intensity in her gaze that reminded me of Erica. She seemed warm and friendly, which is the complete opposite of Erica, although I had no doubt both of them could flatten me in a second. I guess she is around fifteen or sixteen, but she could have passed for much older.

She smiled sweetly, "Oh right! You must be the famous Smokescreen I've heard about! I've been wanting to meet you! I'm Audrey. It's great to meet you!" She held her delicate hand out to me. Not only is she pretty, she's very polite too.

I shook it, praying my hands weren't clammy, "Hi. I'm uh… as I said, Ben Ripley. It's great to meet you too." I gave her my most charming smile, which isn't much.

Mike butted in, not liking how well we were getting along, "Yeah, so I was laughing so hard! The ball hit him right in the face!" He laughed hysterically, finishing the story they were talking about. She gave a fake laugh, which Mike sagged at behind her back. He was used to being the center of attention, especially around hot girls. He didn't like the fact that I was hogging her attention.

"So, I've got to go. I'll see all of you around." Jawa smiled and walked away.

"So, Ben, I've heard so much about you!" Audrey gave a stunning smile, "You were the guy who defeated that enemy organization a few times, right?"

I beamed, proud about this fact. I puffed my chest out a tiny bit, "Yeah, it wasn't that big of a deal." I tried to sound humble, but it didn't work. Mike frowned. He hated her attention diverted back to me. Someone's jealous.

"No a big deal? Didn't you stop New York from being blown up?" Audrey gave a laugh. It wasn't a cute giggle, but a good laugh. Not only was she hot as heck, she also seemed down to Earth. I felt my feelings start to shift to her immediately. I felt like I was betraying Erica somehow, but we weren't in a relationship (don't worry; I tried) and she even tried to deny friendship with me, so starting to crush on Audrey wasn't a big deal, right?

"Yes, I guess I did," my confidence was slowly coming back, "But it was a team effort."

Mike gave a sarcastic, fake laugh, "Yeah. More like just took the credit! Ben's spy skills are the lousiest anyone's seen in a long time. He's just gotten lucky because that Erica Hale girl I was talking about bailed him out the whole time." Audrey turned to him, a little surprised on how he was talking to me. Her eyes widened a bit.

I, for one, was shocked. I've never seen Mike act this way to me. Mike has been my best friend since we were three! Is this how he acts to all guys who likes the same girl? Mike and I've liked the same girl before, but it was always evident who she was going to choose. But in this situation, Mike knew he was losing his edge. I turned to Mike, surprised. I was going to say something polite, yet firm, but Audrey beat me to it.

"Perhaps, but aren't you just going to be a second year? Isn't Ben going to be a third year?" Audrey gave him a smile, but I could see the venom behind it. I got a glimpse on how intimidating she could be as a spy.

"Um… well, yeah, but I started just last year. They wanted me to start as a first, even though I'm the same age as Ben. They do that with all new students." Mike sputtered.

"Hmmm…" Audrey considered this, "Then why did I start here a few days ago and start as a fourth year?" She smirked. Mike's face turned bright red. I secretly smiled. Mike was being mean and just got called out for it, by a girl he was trying to impress no less. Roasted.

"I well-er… I-" Mike scrambled for a sentence.

"So Ben," Audrey completely ignoring him, "What parts of the espionage world do you have trouble with? I heard you were super smart."

I smiled at the compliment, "I have an uncanny gift for numbers. So math is my strongest suit. I can write an essay, do any normal school thing. But at this school, I'm struggling with the physical part of spying, like the weaponry and hand-to-hand combat. I'd never incounterned anything like this."

Audrey smiled sympathetically. She is so darn pretty and kind. "Yeah, I could see that. I'm pretty skilled in that stuff, thus I skipped four grades here, because I won multiple state competitions in California for karate, judo and mixed martial arts. That's how the CIA found me. I also lived on a farm for a while, so I could shoot a gun, launch an arrow, and survive in the wilderness."

"Oh that's awesome!" And it was. In fact, it was even awesomer that I have been talking to a pretty girl for this long without wetting my pants or her friends whisking her away.

"Yeah, I guess. Hey, I'll make you a deal: You help me through Spy School this year, I can tell you know the ropes, and I'll help you shoot a gun and with hand-to-hand combat. Sound fair?"

I grinned. Yes, it sounded more than fair. Not only can I help Audrey with the school, I can also have an excuse to hang out with her. Plus I need all the help I can get. It's a win-win!

"Yeah! Sure! I'd love to!" I said. Mike growled under his breath.

"Great! No one better to help me navigate this school other than the famous Smokescreen himself!" She smiled kindly with a hint of excitement. Or maybe that was just my imagination.


	3. Target Pratice

**Thank you everyone for all the support! I love hearing your thoughts on all of this. This story may be** **boring** **right now, but I promise it'll get better!**

 **Oh and I heard I was supposed to do this thing called a disclaimer...? Um... so: I don't own Spy School or Stuart Gibbs. That much is evident. So I don't make money off of this...?**

 **Is that right? Oh well, whatever :) enjoy!**

"Hey Ben!" My friend Zoe Zibbell cheerfully called out.

Zoe was one of my best friends at Spy School. She has been with me through the thick of things in my social and spy life. It was revealed to me that she liked me and that was awkward for a while, and I guess it still kinda is, but we're not making that big of a deal about it now. She had green eyes and brown hair. She was super friendly and kind.

"Hey Zoe, what's up?" I said.

"I haven't seen you in awhile because of all the studying for finals. I reserved the rec room TV for the night; do you want to watch a few James Bond movies?" She asked, apprehensive of my response.

I cringed. Today was the first day Audrey was going to help me train. I had helped her to find her classes and told her the way of Spy School, like who to avoid and who was nice. To repay me, she offered to train me in weaponry and hand-to-hand combat during the summer, since Spy Camp was canceled due to state regulations about weather in the area. But Zoe has been staring jealousy at us whenever we were talking and I tried to ignore it, but it was hard. She was _not_ going to be happy when I told her I was hanging out with Audrey.

"Uh… I would love to… but Audrey is planning to train me today. Maybe tomorrow?" I asked sheepishly. Her eyes narrowed angrily.

"You've been hanging out with her a lot. What's going on with you and her?"

My face turned a darker shade of red, "What? Um… nothing! What are you talking about? I was just helping her adjust to Spy School."

"Really? She asks a second year for help when she starts as a fourth year? Have you seen her? She doesn't need help. You boys are just suckers for hot people. You are more than glad to help her because she's pretty. She's using you Ben!" She growled suspiciously.

I fumed. I was getting mad at Zoe because she thinks the only reason I would hang out with Audrey is because she is pretty. I am not that low, am I? I am trying to be a nice person and Zoe's jealous, so she takes it out on me.

"First Erica, now Audrey? Whenever I want to hang out with some girl other than you, you gotta take it out on me! Well, I like you as a friend, Zoe, not as a girlfriend! And just because I'm hanging out with Audrey doesn't mean I'm falling in love with her!" I practically shout, temper rising.

She glares at me, looking like a wounded puppy, "Right," she says condescending, "Because you're head over heels for Erica."

I was going to respond with some snarky comment I would later regret, but Zoe cut me off.

"Fine. Whatever. I'll watch the movie with Mike. He's a better friend than you are anyway." With that, she stormed off.

Her words hit me like a punch. I was being unfair to Zoe. Right? But come on, grow up! I don't have time to keep up with Zoe's babyish fights.

XXX

Audrey stood behind me. I awkwardly held the gun in my hand. I was gripping it way too hard and holding it in an awkward angle. I was petrified of hurting Audrey or myself with it.

Audrey scoffed at me, "Really Ben? Stop treating it like it's cancer and embrace it. Instead of treating it like it's your enemy, treat it like your friend. That way, you'll shoot straight."

I laughed at her cheesiness, "Wow, read that off an inspirational poster about bullying? Wise words."

She laughed as well, "Maybe, but I'm the one who's been hitting those targets the whole time." And it was true. That women could shoot. Just before I got their, I could see her shoot and hit the bullseye the whole time. In fact, there was only one hole in the target. She kept getting her bullet in the same spot each time.

Whereas I couldn't hit a single thing. In class, I could clip the target a few times, but today, I'm drawing a blank. I don't know if it was because I was nervous, outright bad, or if I was cracking under pressure from having Audrey scrutinize every move I make.

I completely missed another one. My thirty-fourth in a row.

Audrey gave an exasperated sigh. "Stop! Just stop!" She growled in frustration, "Let me help."

She came behind me and as I was aiming, wrapped her own hands over mine as I help the gun. She helped me aim (which I had already calculated) and yanked the trigger while my hands were still on it. The gun fired and instead of me jumping back at the recoil, like every time, she helped me stand my ground and the bullet actually hit the target.

Audrey stood back, satisfied, while I ran around and whooped with joy. She smirked.

As Audrey was in close quarters with me, I noticed something very important about Audrey. She smelled really good. She smelled like gunpowder, since we've been here for over an hour, but something else. She had a unique smell, just like Erica. Not the same smell, but a noticeable smell. She also had perfectly manicured nails and no split ends on her wavy, sand blonde hair. Not that, you know, I was paying attention to that sort of thing.

I had started to hang out with her a little bit. At lunch, she found her own group of friends, but she had acknowledged me in the lunch line, unlike every other fourth year who avoided us noobs like the plague. She and I have PE (or as some call it: 'child labor and public humiliation for the teachers) along with Chip and Mike. We exchange a few words, but she doesn't really stick around for a while. Mike, however, is in full flirtation mode 24/7. Over the summer, since we can't go to Spy Camp, we've had modified classes, so people of different age groups are in the same class. Just for 'extra training' as our professors call it. Since Audrey is friendly and hot, Mike is in full swing. Practically all the guys are falling for her. Everyone used to like Erica, but since Audrey is the full package of nice and hot, Erica is losing her edge.

Erica. She's barely been seen since that incident in the capture the flag game. She's been even more distant and annoyed than ever before. She's ignoring everyone and being all moody. I would think it'd be teenage mood swings, but Erica is not a normal teenage girl. Something is up. I've tried to talk to her, but all I've gotten is "Go away, Ben, I'm busy." or "Bug off or I'll rip your face off" which discouraged me from approaching her anymore. No one's really talked to her in a while.

Anyway, Audrey thrust the gun into my hand. "Your turn. Go." Startled, I grabbed the gun.

I went back into my lame, normal routine, when Audrey stopped me.

"Pretend it's an extension of your arm. Don't hold it so tightly, just loosely enough to control it, but not grip it. When you shoot, plant your feet and have your shoulders square to the target. Prepare for the recoil; it happens _every_ time. And pull the damn trigger." I did exactly as she told me and guess what: I had hit the inner circle.

XXX

After another hour, I was wiped. Audrey hadn't seemed that tired, but she agreed that should be done for the day. All I wanted at this point was a shower.

As I was heading back to the dorm section, I skidded in my tracks when I heard my name.

"We have to talk about Ben."

XXX

I had just passed the rec room where Zoe and Mike were chilling on the insect infested couch.

"What about Ben?" Mike asked, confused.

"Duh! Have you seen the way he's been acting around Audrey? She's manipulating him! Why or how, I don't know, but she is! Have you seen the way he looks at her."

I stiffen at that.

Mike is still confused, "Um… maybe he thinks she's hot. I do." See, my best friend knows me best.

"No! You dork! You boys are so low! Always going for the hot ones. I've noticed weird things about Audrey. I don't know what's going on, but I think it has something to do with Erica being all weird." Zoe snapped.

Mike gave her a blank stare, "Maybe. It is strange Erica is being like this right before Audrey showed up. Did Erica know this super-spy was going to show up? Knowing Erica, she probably did. Maybe that's why she's mad. A spy paralleling her talents."

I hid in the hallway so they didn't see me listening in. These ideas were valid. They did have some good points. The rec room was empty and they thought they were alone. I don't know why I was hiding from them, but it seems like a good idea.

"In fact," Zoe looked around furiously to find they were alone, "Do you want to know a secret? Don't tell anyone but someone's going to be real pissed if you do."

She leaned in but I could still hear it, "I saw Erica about a week ago."

Mike looked dumbfounded by her 'surprising' secret, "Uh… yeah. Me too. At the mess hall."

"No you dork!" She hissed, "It was around two in the morning. I couldn't sleep, so sometimes I sneak to the kitchen to grab milk. No biggie. Anyway, this is about two days before Audrey shows up. I am walking to the kitchen and I feel a whoosh of air. I was scared, so I froze. In a second, I am pinned to the wall, hand over my mouth."

Mike's face was sheer surprise, "WHAT? Why didn't you tell anyone?" I was intrigued as well.

"Let me finish!" she snapped, "So I thought it was the end. I was going to die. But I notice my captor, dressed as a ninja, had blue eyes and smelled of lilac. I automatically found out it was Erica."

"WHAT?!" Mike almost shouted.

"I know right? At first I was relieved, but then scared again. Erica is weird and shady. What was she doing at two in the morning? I don't know if she knew who I was, but then pulled out a gun. I thought she was going to shoot me. She pressed it up to my head and said this: 'Zoe, if you tell anyone I was here, I will kill you, no questions asked. I have no remorse for someone who is spying on me. I will kill you and whoever you told. Mark my words.' I was so weirded out by it and terrified. This was so un-Erica. Even though she is intimidating when she wants to be, this didn't seem like an act. So what was she doing? She unpinned me and put the gun away. I quickly agreed and ran to my room. I didn't know what to do. I haven't told anyone except you, but what the heck _was_ she doing? Seemed very SPYDERish. I don't know, but something is going on that is strange. And now Audrey shows up…" she trailed off.

Mike was frazzled, "Why did you tell me? She's going to kill both of us now!"

Zoe snorted, "Relax. Erica can't kill us without raising a suspicion. She won't do anything risky. And I think she is human enough to realize that's not okay. Just don't tell anyone." Mike nodded vigorously.

I was shocked. Erica doing that too Zoe is scary and weird. I am now going to be more cautious when I am around Erica, especially alone.

I scampered off when I heard them get up. Something strange was going on at Spy School and I was in the thick of things.


	4. Spying on friends? Again?

**Yes, yes. I know. All this "She's** **suspicious** **!" thing is getting old, but there are a few important details that need to get out in this chapter. I put this out a little** **earlier** **, because I got a test on Friday. Funnnn.**

 **I also think some of the characters are acting OOC. Let me know if you think the same way and who you think is and I'll work to fix it.**

 **Thanks everyone who reviewed. I love it. Sadly, I check every day and it makes me SO HAPPY when someone reviews! Alright, enjoy!**

Everyone loves Audrey. She's smart, fun, hot and is an excellent homework-helper (I know from experience). Even the professors love her and I thought they were incapable of liking anyone. She's amazing. She sticks up for the little kids, helps anyone out and politely declines any date requests instead of beating them up. (Polar opposite of Erica.)

Erica has been AWOL for a while. She only comes to class when she wants to and still gets high marks in every class because the teachers are terrified of giving her a bad grade. This is inhuman to everyone else. Erica missing school? She regards school like her personal training center (and everyone else is merely speed bumps). But no one really is seeing her, which used to bug people, until Audrey came along. Everyone, including me (I've gotten weird vibes from Erica during the rare times I've talked to her recently) is falling for that silky, blond hair, blue-green eyes, jaw dropping intelligence and friendly demeanor that Audrey posses. I have come to terms with myself that I like Audrey more than Erica at this point. It's not like Erica cares that much.

XXX

I enter my new class: Poisons and Antidotes. It was another one of those modified classes and people of all grades were in it.

I scanned the room for people who I recognized and noticed I had no friends in the class. Sighing, I took a seat in the front of the room. The front of the class was avoided like the plague because Professor Cerney couldn't see past the second row.

Class started and Professor Cerney told us about his class and that we are learning how to avoid and create poisons. Fun.

At the end of his intro, someone bursts into the room. Erica Hale. She was the only one I knew in the class. She scanned the classroom in disdain as if she walked into a cockroach colony. She selected a desk in the back (even though there was someone in the desk), tipped the chair forwards and made the poor first year fall on the floor. She quickly, without saying anything, took the spot and the first year grumbled as he took his place in the front next to me.

Mr. Cerney had nothing to say about this and continued his lecture.

XXX

It was our summer too. We only had class four days a week instead of five. Because of all this free time, many kids in my grade have created quite a passion for Ultimate Frisbee. There was a great grass lawn outside and we all played it and had a blast. Someone would just start a game and everyone else would join in.

Today, I was in a good mood so I grabbed a Frisbee from the bin and set out to find my friends. As I was walking down the dorm hall, naturally, I heard Zoe and Mike.

Again, I spied on them. Not because they were being suspicious, but because they were outside Erica Hale's door.

I hid behind the corner and listened in, using my tricks from _Spying on Other Spies Who May Know You Are Spying on Them_ class to help me.

"Are you sure about this?" Mike asked uncertain.

"Yes! We'll talk to her for five minutes then leave! We can find Ben or something and hang out! Just five minutes!" Zoe was about to knock when Mike just tried to open the door. Not surprisingly, the door was booby-trapped. A few bolts of electricity waved through his body and he jumped back with a yelp.

Erica, hearing the noise, opened up.

"What are you nipwits doing outside my door?" She asked in her standard cold voice.

"We wanted to talk to you." Zoe replied.

"Oh well. Too bad. I'm busy." Erica said.

"Alright, have a good day, bye!" Mike turned to leave but Zoe grabbed his arm. Mike was showing weird behaviors lately. He has no backbone and lets Zoe push him around and his self confidence has gone down. I don't know if it's because he keeps getting rejected by Audrey or if it's something else. It also seems like Zoe and Mike have been getting along great right now, which raises red flags in my friend group. If Mike and Zoe start dating that would be bad for two reasons: first, I would be the third wheel and being forgotten all the time. Second, it would mean Zoe doesn't like me anymore and even though I like Erica, I mean Audrey, more than Zoe, it still feels good for my self-esteem to know Zoe has feelings for me.

"Come'on Mike! Erica, it's important." Zoe begged.

"Sucks for you. Figure it out." Erica started to close the door on them, but Zoe sticks her foot in the crack. Erica shoots her a death stare, but opens it again.

"What?" She snarled.

"It's about Audrey and Ben." Zoe started.

"I don't care if they're dating." Erica started to leave again but was interrupted by Zoe. But I was hurt to see that Erica didn't care. Owch. I mean, _I don't care! I like Audrey better now anyway!_ Yep, that's what I was thinking…

"They're not dating! I want to let you know some things I've noticed about Ben's behavior and what Mike saw Audrey doing." Erica sighed and came out of her room, scanned the hallway and leaned against her closed door.

"What?"

"Okay, well, Ben's been acting weird. I've known him since he was five and he's never acted this way before." Mike began. Okay, but WHAT WAY AM I ACTING? I thought I was going about my time normally. Nothing too exciting, I didn't think.

Mike continued, "He's serving Audrey like she's the Queen of England! They're together all the time and he doesn't have anything to say about anything. He actually changed his opinion about something just because of what Audrey said. That girl is hot, _oh and so are you,_ but she's suspicious. Like too perfect or something. She's too smart and too talented."

Erica snorted, "I'm too smart and talented. You think I'm suspicious? And don't worry about Ben. He probably has a crush on her or something. He's not really a think-for-yourself kind of guy. But I will do a little digging on Audrey, but you have no evidence."  
What is she talking about?! Of course I could think for myself! All I said yesterday was I don't like the pie and Audrey commented how it was better than the cake and I agreed. Big deal!

"Actually, there is evidence." Zoe said. My ears perked up.

"In the middle of the night last night, I woke up. My room faces the east campus and I saw someone come out of the storage shed. I was terrified, so I was going to get someone, but I then realized I should figure out who it was. I looked closer and noticed they had blond hair. Normal, a lot of people have blond hair. But it was long and when they stepped into the moonlight, I knew for a fact it was Audrey. I could see her face! It was so weird! I tried to take a picture without the flash, but it came out dark. Today, she didn't say anything about it." Mike got his phone out and showed Erica the picture.

Erica frowned, "That could be anything. It's pitch black. But that is weird. Especially for someone who just joined. I'll look into it. Is that it?"

"Yes." Zoe replied.

"Great. Then leave." And they did.

XXX

I caught up to them and pretended to not have any idea what they had talked about. We headed to the grass to play Ultimate Frisbee.

While Zoe and I were both out on subs, Zoe talked to me, once again, about Audrey. Admittedly, it is very suspicious and my red flags were up for both Erica and Audrey now.

"I know you don't want to hear more about this, but hear me out." Zoe then launched into the same story Mike told Erica. I acted like I've never heard that before.

"Wow, that's weird." I said, pretending to think.

"Yeah. Well, I don't trust Audrey and I don't think you should either." Zoe concluded.

"Okay," I said, "I'll be careful." I waved it off. I had a lot of thinking to do.

XXX

After a night of tossing and turning, I dragged myself out of bed and to my Poisons and Antidotes class. I prepared myself for notes and boring lectures. Instead, I found I moved to the back. Next to Erica.

I had a suspicion Erica was behind all of this. I think she wanted to talk to me.

I sat in my new seat and Erica looked at me. Professor Cerney started his spiel and Erica started to talk to me.

She told me of Zoe and Mike's conversation (this is the third time hearing this).

"They said she was acting weird. Maybe she was." Erica said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, they told me the same thing."

"I've done some digging. Some stuff was pretty interesting. There are many gaps in her file. I'll need to explore more, but be careful." Erica whispered to me.

"Okay, but let me know if something-" I was abruptly cut off by Professor Cerney. Wonderful.

"Ripley!" He barked, "Are you paying attention?" I gave a quick glance in Erica's direction and she was acting all innocent.

"Yes sir!" I yelled.

"Really?" Cerney asked, amused, "Alright then. Pop quiz! Come to the front then, Ripley." Gulping, I rose from my seat. Thirty two pairs of eyes followed me to the front. Professor Cerney presented me with four cups. They looked identical.

"So, Mr. Ripley, these are all juices. Three have poison in them, one doesn't. Select the one that doesn't and drink it. If you're right, you pass! If you're wrong, well, let's just say best case scenario, you'll be in the hospital." He laughed maliciously.

I froze, terrified.

"Nuh...no sir! Please! I'll never talk in your class again, I promise!" I stammer out.

He sighed, disappointed. To my great relief, he didn't make me taste the poisons. I haven't paid attention a second in his class.

"Alright. I'll give you a warning. Along with an essay on the types of poisons we've been studying and their origins. Good luck!" He waved me off.

I slumped back to my seat. At least it was better than dying. When I sat back down, Erica whispered,

"Don't trust her, Ben. That's all I'm saying. Be careful around that lover of yours." With that, Erica ignored me the rest of the period.


	5. Note

**I'm trying to cut to the chase in this chapter. Get to some juicy stuff. The others have been a bit boring but important. Stuff is going down now! What will happen? Dun-duh-dunnnn. (Wow, that was lame. XD) Oh and all the unknown countries and poisons were made up. Thank you for all of your reviews and positive feedback! It is making me so happy! Please enjoy! :)**

This is a moment that has been awaited for a while. It's tournament time. Because of the cancellation of Spy Camp this year, the school has created a hand-to-hand combat all school tournament. But everyone knew the real reason the school put this on: everyone wanted to see Audrey and Erica have a real combat fight.

Every grade was split in half. They were put into two teams: Team Red and Team Blue (or more informally: Team Audrey and Team Erica.)

There was a gigantic bracket in the entry foyer of the Nathan Hale Building. Everyone crowded around to try to find their name. I noticed, in the first round, I was going against a first year. The teacher who assigned this must have taken mercy on me. There was a _chance_ I could beat this kid. This round was mostly to weed out the weak and the 1st years.

I noticed that whoever won the Audrey vs 1st year competition was going against whoever won my game. This was an interesting part on the professors. It seemed they wanted to make it as easy as possible to get Audrey and Erica to the finals. Most people were paired against someone their skill level, but Audrey and Erica were against really easy people they could crush.

Everyone was buzzing with excitement and the training rooms were filled day and night. Most people knew they didn't have a chance at winning, but they wanted to be 'that kid' who beat or almost beat Erica Hale or Audrey (actually, I don't know her last name.)

I've spend little time with Audrey recently. Most of my time was working on that dumb essay or hanging out with Zoe, Mike, Jawa and Chip.

XXX

Even my friends were into the training phase. Zoe, Mike, Chip and Jawa spent many hours together polishing their skills. I joined them on some occasions, but mostly stayed to myself. I knew I had no chance at even making it to the third round it I was against Audrey the second round. (If I even win the first round). Also, that stupid essay was due in five days and I was only halfway done. I logged many hours in the Media Center.

XXX

After a few short days, the first and second rounds were today. Everyone studied hard (more than their actual classes probably) and were ready. I wasn't until 2:30, so I watched other people.

Mike did a nice job against a second year (a year above him). He managed to punch the guy's adams apple, making him stumble, and Mike kicked him in the stomach. The guy folded and Mike pinned him down for the win.

Zoe also did well. She was against a fellow second year and managed to get the girl in a headlock. She quickly threw the girl on the ground and pushed her fist into her neck. The girl surrendered and Zoe moved on to round two.

Chip didn't do so well. He was a fourth year and was paired against a fifth year. Chip plays dirty (not traditional style and extremely painful) but the other guy was a seasoned traditionalist and proved that training hard was better than low moves. Chip was cranky the rest of the day.

Jawa was good and beat his guy with a roundhouse kick, making him fall and surrender. Easy.

But the most watched was Audrey and Erica's. Practically the whole school crowded in the training center to watch.

Audrey's wasn't exciting. She was against a poor first year who was terrified. Before the match, Audrey offered some consolation to the scared kid that she wasn't going to hurt him and for him to try his hardest. He nodded and it started.

The first year, Jacob, started by completely rushing at her. She simply step-sided him and used his momentum to shove him down (not hard though) and Jacob crashed to the ground. She dropped on top of him and lightly shoved his chest down. He surrendered and the fight was over quickly, not much action and no one was hurt. She helped him up and he stumbled off.

"I feel bad. That poor kid." Audrey said aloud, to no one in particular. People mumbled in agreement and above all the voices, everyone heard Erica.

"You shouldn't," Erica states, stony, "He had the option to join Spy School and he agreed. That's part of the deal. There should be no remorse for the enemies." Everyone looked at her in a bit of surprise. I guess we shouldn't expect any less from the Ice Queen.

"Well, Jacob's not my enemy. He's a classmate and we're on the same side. Don't worry, Hale, I'll go hard when there's a real enemy." Audrey's eyes took a darker look to them. The crowd shifted uneasily. Erica just walked away.

It was my turn. A good amount of people came to watch the famous Smokescreen, including both Erica and Audrey. I was against this first year, who smiled cockily.

"Ha! There was only one second year I knew I could beat and it was you." The annoying boy, Dylan, said. The crowd ooh-ed. Audrey frowned.

"We'll see, newbie." I admit I got cocky as well.

We started and he came at me. Dylan knocked into me and I stumbled, but didn't fall. I whirled around and stepped on the back of his shoe (most people opted to not wear shoes, but he did). I flat tired him and he fell at the surprising fighting style of Ben Ripley. As he fell, I also shoved him and pinned him. Yes! I won!

The crowd booed at my sad fight and Erica sighed at me. Audrey and my other friends were laughing their heads off. Oh well. A win is a win. Now I'll lose because I'm going against Audrey.

Erica's fight was the last of the first round. She was against this third year named Jackson. He was a good fighter and could have gone far if he wasn't against Erica. They started and Erica, out of the gate, went for a face punch. Jackson predicted this and ducked. Only when he ducked, she brought up a knee and slammed it right into his gut. It was obvious that beginning blow was a fake. Jackson stumbled and Erica advanced, kicking him right in the jaw. He fell to the ground and Erica was on top of him. She repeatedly punched him in the face until he was bruised and surrendered.

All of this was legal in the competition and it was clear Erica was for the win and was not going to give anything less than a hundred and ten percent.

XXX

Later that day, I was against Audrey. Before the match started, she warned me she was going to win but didn't want to hurt me too bad. Good. I didn't have time to ice my wounds. There was a giant crowd at this one. Anything with Erica or Audrey was going to draw an audience. The referee told us to start and we did. I tried to swing at her head, but she arched out of the way and swung her foot up at my face. I avoided her foot to my face, but then realized her foot was aimed at my neck and that impact made me collapse. I was on the ground and Audrey came on top of me and push a forearm to my throat. Her knees pinned my arms and I gave up.  
After the referee blew the whistle, she got up. Laughing she said,  
"Man, Ben, I was hoping you'd trip me or something." I laugh as well.

"Hahaha you wish. I let you win." I say sarcastically.

The rest of the day was more competitions. Mike lost in the second round and so did Zoe. Mike, Zoe and I were out. Jawa made it to the third round and not surprisingly, so did Erica.

XXX

The next few day's classes were canceled, so I had more time to work on my essay. Everyone, including the professors, wanted to watch the fights.

Jawa got out in the fourth round and there were only the semi-finals and finals left for tomorrow.

During the fourth round, I opted not to watch the fights to work on my essay.

 _The most dangerous poison is found in Russia, blah, blah blah. It was made by the KGB in 1892 blah, blah, blah._

I struggled to stay awake at the computer in the Media Center. Wanting an excuse to get out of my work, I focused my attention at the TV. It was the news:

 _We have a breaking update on the story about the United Nation's decision to accept other countries into its organization. Hi, I'm Sydney Porter and he's Clint Wilson. After much controversy and debate, the UN lets the country of Zoombiaz into it's alliance because of its location, booming economy and trade centers. The UN, which consists of many countries, such as the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, China and France, made the choice on Wednesday. But this decision raised questions for the other sixteen countries hoping to join. They are all thinking: why not us? The standout was the country of Sankibali. Sankibali has been asking the UN to join for over ten years now and is infuriated by their choice. Their ruler, King Tablin, is know to be a tyrant ruler, which didn't help them join this prestigious organization. The UN said in a statement they were 'afraid of what could become of the organization with a ruler like King Tablin in our workings.' The choices have sparked protests all over and the sixteen countries won't be happy. The matter is closed. Back to you guys._

I did hear a little about this UN story a while back. Apparently Sankibali was pissed they didn't get picked. I guess they didn't have enough to offer, unlike Zoombiaz. Whatever. I need to focus on my homework. Sighing, I raise my fingers to the keyboard.

XXX

I groan after my third hour in that dumb Media Center. I had paid zero attention in class and I was at a total loss for the origins of this Russian poison. I couldn't google it because Russia doesn't have that much freedom of speech or press, so there was not much information on the lethal weapon. I would have had to done my notes in class or actually paid attention.

I resorted to going to the only person I knew in the class. Erica. Even though she was talking to me the whole period, I knew she was paying attention to the lesson and may have already known everything Cerney was saying. Since I had class again tomorrow, I had to get this done.

It was past dinner. Most kids were hanging out or playing a game in the lighted field. The fights were over for the day, so I knew she was available, if she wasn't training.

I trudge over to her room. When I got to her door, I noticed it was propped open. This was strange. Erica enforced secret traps and warnings all over her door, but they were useless if the door was already open.

Frowning, I crept toward the room. I shoved the door the rest of the way open with my foot. Huh. So far no explosions or tasers coming to annihilate me. I came into the room, figuring Erica was in there if the door was open. Once I stepped into the room, I realized that was not the case.

There was no one in the room. I probably shouldn't be in here, but this was the one chance I have at seeing the Ice Queen's room and I can't screw it up.

Her room was surprisingly… normal. It was the same size of mine (TINY) and had the same twin bed, dresser and wooden desk. But, opposite of mine, her room was clean. Any military general would be proud of her. Her covers were tucked with crisp corners, fluffed pillows, organized desk and clean floors.

I approached her busy desk. She had more textbooks than I could count on that thing! There were textbooks from hand-to-hand combat to terrorist populated countries. Each textbook had a bunch of papers stuck into them.

I scanned (without touching) any book that could help me on my essay. In the middle of the stack, I saw a book titled Poisons and How to Avoid Them which sounded like what I needed right then. I looked at the textbook and noticed some papers and a yellow/gold-ish manila folder sticking out of it. I was about to grab the textbook, but something else on the desk caught my attention.

It was a note that seemed freshly printed on the far left side of the desk, almost hidden by the books and work. What it said made me almost faint:

 _Nice work Hale. You've done the assignment we asked of you. So far, we won't have to take extreme measures. But await further instructions. It's not over yet. In fact, it's only the beginning. Best regards, SPYDER_

 **XXX**

 **Now we're talking! Let's get to the juicy stuff and have something exciting happen. What will Erica do and what will Ben think? Update coming soon!**


	6. Finale

**Hello everyone! :) It's been a while and I'm soooo sorry. TESTS! Uh! The death of me! Anyway, I put this on Wattpad. I have NO CLUE how to work that thing (I can barely figure out FanFiction! ;) So if anything is wrong on that site and you see it, let me know.**

 **Oh, also, Stan Lee died. :( I am a huge Marvel fan and that was so sad to hear. He won't be able to cameo in the new Avengers and Spiderman movie! His ideas and legacy will live on forever. Spiderman and the others are SO iconic. It is part of pop culture. Imagine if he hadn't done what he did. The course of society would be different.**

 **Enough of my rambling. Sorry I left you at a cliffy. But I tend to do that. Please enjoy and review! They make me so happy.**

My mind raced as I sat at the dinner table. All my friends were chatting around me but I wasn't paying any attention to what they were saying. When they asked me something, I replied with a half-hearted answer. I furiously scanned the room for Erica. I had to talk to her.

I didn't tell anyone what I saw. Right after I saw the note, I tore through the halls looking for her. I didn't want to act suspicious or tell anyone in case this was a setup by Erica or something. But I assumed the worst: either Erica betrayed the whole country or she was undercover or this was a whole ruse by SPYDER. I had no clue what was going on.

But why would Erica betray Spy School? Yes, she was acting weird and salty lately, but nothing to warrant a full on betrayal. If she did do it, someone must have really pissed her off. But maybe (fingers crossed) it was a deep undercover trick to capture SPYDER within its organization. If so, why was she still at school and keep the note (freshly printed) in her room. It was completely stupid. As much as I want to deny it, all the signs pointed to Erica working with them. But I am going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she didn't know the note was in her room.

I finally saw Erica enter the dining hall. I jumped up and started towards her, ignoring the snickers coming from Chip. "Going to see your girlfriend?" I heard him laugh under his breath. I still ignored him.

I was reading her body language and the weirdest thing about it was there was nothing weird about it. Erica was acting like it was any normal day; grabbing a salad and sitting by herself, nose in a book. If I was her, I would be frazzled and concerned. (It is a proven fact I get frazzled and concerned because it's happened to me before.) To her, finding a note from a terrorist organization was the same as finding an actual spider in her room. Not a note from SPYDER.

It was the strangest thing. She was being Erica-normal, which raised a red flag in my book. She acted like she had maybe gotten a note like this before. What was happening? Was she really working with SPYDER?

I haven't told anyone I was in her room. I was scared. If it wasn't Erica's plan, I didn't want SPYDER to now target me. Erica is more than capable to handle SPYDER. I am barely capable to handle an arachnid spider.

Everyone was staring funnily at me as I headed towards the lion's den (excuse me, Erica's table.) She saw me coming and poked her head out of her book, cocking it slightly in my direction. I motioned I wanted to talk to her, but then Audrey came out of nowhere and cut me off. I internally groaned but plastered a smile on the outside. She blocked me from continuing to Erica and Erica gave me a curious look and shook her head.

"Ben!" Audrey exclaimed, "I was just looking for you! I need help on some tough math homework Geaslin assigned. Will you help me tomorrow morning before the finals?" Oh right. Today was the last round before the finals. Obviously, Erica and Audrey made it to the finals. I had forgotten about it with all the excitement.

"Yeah, sure. I also have to work on my essay tomorrow as well, but I'll help you." I gave her a smile and tried to push past her to talk to Erica. Also, I never grabbed that textbook so I mine as well ask Erica about my homework while we were going to talk.

I tried to shove past Audrey, but she laughed and said, "Where you going?" I tried to lie, but I'm not very skilled in that area.  
"I… uh…need to go to find my jacket." Even I cringed at my own lie. My jacket was literally visible from here. It was hanging on the back of my chair.

"Really?" She asked, amused, "Well, I found it. Stop trying to sneak away to that girlfriend of yours." She gave a me big grin and escorted me back to my table.

"She's not my girlfriend." I mumble.

"Sorry," Audrey laughed, "Looks like it. So you available?" She said that with complete sarcasm that I knew she wasn't being serious.

Unfortunately for me, there wasn't any good time to slip away and Audrey ended up sitting with us by encouragement from Mike and Chip. After dinner, the excitement was over and Erica disappeared without a chance for me to talk to her.

XXX

Morning rolled around and at breakfast, I looked for Erica. She was gone, but no surprise. I'll bet she's on the training course, ready to take on Audrey. Audrey, on the other hand, was stuffing her face with food. She didn't seem concerned about the fight, saying 'it's just for fun!'. She's probably the only one to think that.

After breakfast, Audrey and I walked to the Media Center together. She was holding her math homework and we were going to do it there so I could also work on my essay.

She slid the homework over to me. It was pretty complex:

 _The CIA wants to take out an enemy base. It is around 4,000 feet with buildings throughout. The CIA drops_ _thermonuclear_ _bombs with the standard weight of 2,400 pounds in the center of the complex. They want to cause the most damage but few casualties. How many bombs should it launch and how much damage and casualties would there be if it was in the middle of a weekday?_

There were more like this, same thermonuclear bomb, but different building sizes and days of the week. I worked through all the parts with Audrey. While it was simple for me, she was struggling with it. In the end, I did most of the problems while she watched and the one's she did, I checked. There were five problems.

There was something nagging me about this homework, though.

"Wait, who did you say assigned this?" I politely asked.

Audrey gave me an annoyed sigh, but intended at the teacher. "Geaslin. We normally don't have homework like this. I was the only one in the class who got it. Annoying, right? All I did was comment about her horrible makeup and zombie look. Teachers are harsh."

Oh, so it was like my poisons essay. Make-up work as a punishment. That made sense why it looked like it was printed from a home, rather than school computer.

"Yeah, I got my essay by talking in class." I reply.

We work on her homework and completed it in plenty of time for her to train for her 1:30 finals fight. Though I declined, she helped me finish my poisons essay with her expertise on the matter. I asked her how she knew this and she said her friend is in my class and she was helping her with homework. I shrugged it off.

XXX

At one o'clock, the whole school collected in the gym. Normally, the fights took place in the training center, but since the whole school wanted to watch this one, we sat on the bleachers in the vast gym.

I wasn't paying too much attention because I was busy studying Erica's movements. For anything, really. Anything SPYDER-like. Anything suspicious.

The referee told them to start. The whole crowd roared in excitement. Erica's eyes were cold and Audrey's had a playful look in them, but I could tell it was going to be a good fight.

They circled each other, on high alert. They studied each other and their movements. It was going on for a while. People started to boo. They both gave nasty stares to the bleachers and the booing stopped.

Audrey finally took the first move. Erica easily blocked it and tried to flip Audrey over, but Audrey moved out of the way. They continued to study each other.

Finally, Erica threw a punch. It landed right on Audrey's left cheek. Her head snapped back and you could see a bruise forming. Audrey simply shrugged it off and continued fighting.

Audrey then went for a roundhouse kick to Erica's face. She dodged it, but this is what Audrey was anticipating. Audrey kneed Erica right in the kidney, making her wince.

Erica then dropped to the ground and swept her leg out. Audrey jumped and while she was jumping, Erica sprang up and shoved Audrey over. She thudded to the ground but as quickly as she fell, she got up. Audrey grinned and went out of the middle.

Both of them caught their breaths, but while Audrey was recovering, Erica had pulled back her arm, clenched her fist and threw it forward with such force that it knocked Audrey backwards when it connected. The dull thud and gasp of breath confirmed it knocked the wind out of her.

Erica grinned cockily, "Done yet Newbie?"

Audrey snarled, "Not even close, b**ch." She staggered up and relaxed all her body parts. Erica's eyes narrowed in surprise and anticipation. Audrey just stood there, normally. Like she was standing in a hallway. The crowd was frowning, trying to figure out her game. Erica gave up waiting and made her move.

She whipped her hand around and tried to karate-chop Audrey's jaw. Audrey saw this coming and simply moved out of the way. Erica's brows furrowed in confusion.

The fight continued for a while, but it had seem like Audrey had given up. Erica attacked, but Audrey had only counter-attacked, never launching her own. Weird.

Erica eventually took her by surprise by kicking her knee. It buckled in a weird way and Audrey fell. She made no attempt to get up and let Erica drop on top of her. Erica pounded and pounded Audrey's face, stomach, neck, and other various body parts. Audrey smiled cockily at every hit, never surrendering.

In the finals, you need to fully say you surrender before the match is over. After a while, everyone was wincing at Erica's hits. Silently, everyone was hoping Audrey would just surrender for her health. Audrey's face was bloody from her nose, was gasping at every hit and got the wind knocked out of her multiple times from hits on her neck and chest. But every time, Audrey would just smile.  
Erica remained on Audrey's chest, legs pinning her arms down. Her face was screwed in rage.

"This used to be a fair fight. Now you're acting like a b**ch. Fight like I know you can. You want to look like a fool in front of everyone?" Erica snarled.

Again, Audrey gave her a condescending grin, "I think you're the one looking like a fool." Audrey attempted to punch, but Erica caught and wrenched it to the ground. Erica leaned into Audrey's ear and whispered something no one heard. The crowd stirred.

Erica laid her forearm against Audrey's throat. She shifted so her whole body weight was against Audrey's neck. Audrey's face visibly paled.

It was evident both of them were holding back. But I could see some of Erica's true fighting skills in the end. She was getting fed up with Audrey. Erica was quickly letting the air out of Audrey's body.

"Do you surrender?" Erica mocked.

"Yep," Audrey said like a gasp, but too happily for the situation, "I surrender. The great Erica Hale beat a newbie at the school. Congrats." The crowd was at the edge of their seats. Audrey's tone was rude and sarcastic. But Erica was finally put in her place.

Erica was regarded as some type of legend. But when a noob comes in and almost beats her, she feels accomplished. Everyone at school was waiting for someone to tell Erica off.

Since Audrey surrendered, Erica was forced to get up. She extended her arm to help Audrey and when she grasped it, Erica grabbed it and slammed Audrey over her shoulder and Audrey fell to the floor. Everyone gasped in surprise. The referee jumped up and tried to break it up and Erica simply sent him a death stare and he backed off.

Erica's body when rigid with anger, "Don't talk to me that way."

With that, Erica packed everything in the arm and struck her fist right into Audrey's face. Immediately, her nose gusted blood. Audrey coughed and hacked, sitting up. Erica started to walk out.

I could tell Erica was not holding back that last time. All of her anger at Audrey was released right into her face. This is how she would treat an enemy. That was way too harsh for a school tournament. Even though I could tell Erica disliked Audrey, would could cause her to send her into this rage? She normally doesn't display emotions. Could something else be going on? Was the note somehow affecting Erica's behavior?

Audrey gagged and spit out a wad of blood. With her last bit of strength, Audrey horsely said, "I believe I am the one who won tonight."

Erica turned slightly, surprised at her words. But the meaning was clear:  
If they both fought, there would be a winner. But tonight, Audrey refused to fight. This sent Erica into a rage. She was betrayed as a ruthless bully, hitting the weak one down again and again. Audrey stubbornly refused to engage. It made Audrey look like she took the high road. Erica displayed her strength. No one knew about Audrey. It was a weirdly, mastered plan. I wondered what would happen if a true fight occurred. This was the point of the tournament. To see a true victor. But now I don't think it was going to happen. No one could see the full extent of Audrey's skill.

While everyone was discussing this, a ear-splitting microphone shriek went through the gym.

You could see the principal's toupee visible from here. It looked like a rodent died on his head, got run over by a car, then jumped in the sewer. And then even worse.

Everyone immediately covered their ears. Suddenly, guards with guns ran round and locked all the gym doors. They stood guard so no one could leave. People were concerned, whispering of a sneak attack. But the principle mastering it? Not likely. Even Erica stopped, whirled around and scrutinized him.

"No one leaves here!" The principal (or the 'Idiot' as everyone calls him.) "Something grave has happened. Something I never thought would happen here! Someone stole a file from my office." The crowd turned to each other; the gym a chorus of shouts.

"SILENCE!" He roared, "It was a yellow folder like the ones you get packages in. What's it called…? A Millennium folder right? Oh shoot, that's Starwars. WHATEVER!" He continued, "It was yellow and had very top secret documents about terrorist organizations such as…" Someone on the staff coughed.

"Right!" The Idiot tried for a save face, "They're top secret. At any rate, look around you! A double agent could be sitting right next to you. If you stole it, come to me and we'll work out a deal. Give me the information untouched and I'll cut you some slack, only fifty year instead of a life sentence." Oh yeah, someone will want to return it now. "If anyone knows anything, please come to me. There will be a luxurious reward. For the person who did it, you will be arrested and put on trial by the CIA and FBI, seeing it's sensitive information. As you leave, we will search all of you." I could tell someone wrote this speech for him. He couldn't be smart enough to come up with this himself.

One by one, we started to file out. If anyone had any brains, they wouldn't bring the folder with them to a public place. It was idiotic. But something was nagging me about this whole thing. That folder sounds oddly familiar. Something tugged at the back of my memory. But I couldn't place it.

One glance at Erica, I remembered where I'd seen that exact folder.

 **Yes, another cliffy. I'm sorry I created such build-up to this fight and let you all down. It was important for it to go this way though. I also added swear words (as you noticed) but bleeping them out to keep it K+. If it's too much, let me know in the comments and I'll remove them and continue without them. I just think they add empathise to the characters and their emotions. The next chapter will be soon!**


	7. Truth

**Hi guys! Let me start by saying Happy Late Thanksgiving!! I will now tolerate Christmas music! :)** **Oh and happy black Friday!! Hope you got some good stuff!!**

 **Per request, I got rid of the swearing. It was a bit much and kind of useless. So it will be out of the rest of the story.**

 **Sorry for not updating this week. I was everywhere this thanksgiving break. I even met my idol, magician Mat Franco!!!!! He won America's Got Talent in 2015. He's amazing!!! Look him up on YouTube! If you want to talk about him or even magic or AGT, PM me. I'm always down to talk.**

 **Anyway, review and enjoy. It always makes me happy. I try quick updates (normally) for happy readers and reviewers. Without further adue, enjoy!**

I pushed through the crowd of students, trying to find Erica. Security locked down the door after the fight, trying to find the culprit who stole the folder. It was useless because whoever stole it wouldn't be dumb enough to keep it with them. Plus, I was 99% sure it was Erica and she's not dumb at all. It was shocking she even left it out on her desk.

But I guess it had some merit to it. If security went through her room and found a folder hidden under her floorboard, it would be way more suspicious rather than it being stuck inside a textbook. Plus, she'd probably already got rid of it.

I pushed forward with no avail. A lot of the students were pissed because they hadn't stolen it and they were being scrutinized and all they wanted was out of the dumb gym. They all shoved me farther away from Erica.

Erica's face was drawn in annoyance like everyone else in the gym. She didn't look worried or paranoid at all. She just took in the scene like it was a big inconvenience to her. I swear, if espionage doesn't work out for her, she can always be an actor. She doesn't look nervous or worried the slightest.

As people leave the gym, security is patting them down and looking through their belongings. For commonly known bad kids, the agents use those things in the airports and swipe up and down their body.

But for a supposed 'Intelligence' agency, they aren't that smart. Unless the thing inside the folder was medal, the thing won't go off. And I highly doubt it is; I'll bet money it's just paper.

From the back of the stream of people trying to get out, I noticed Erica going through the door. Erica shoots the poor younger agent an icy stare, like a warning, and he barely touches her to frisk her. He quickly waves her through.

The agent probably wasn't worried because out of everyone, she was the most unlikely person to commit this crime. Again, look how 'intelligent' this agency is: they are easily corrupt by good behavior.

Finally, after a lot of pushing and shoving, it was my turn.

"Name and rank." The bored looking agent says to me, looking like she would rather be anywhere else but here.

"Benjaman Ripley. Second, going on third year." I reply.

She quickly frisks me and announces, "Clear." And gestures me out of the gym.

The second I leave the gym I quickly look for Erica.

Not surprisingly, I don't find her. But, I do see some security agents going through troublemaker's rooms. It was a good thought, but they aren't going to find anything because the last place they'd think to look is Erica the great's room.

I heard students mumbling and discussing potential suspects for the missing folder. Everyone wanted to find it for the reward. Not that they wanted to be a good person and find it for the school. No. They wanted the prize. Rumors were spreading around about what it was. The consensus is that it was a new room. With a shower, queen bed, own bathroom and almost triple the size of our old one. (Granted, our room is the size of my closet in my house, but still.)

Even though I had information, I knew better than to give it to the school. Number one, Erica probably covered her tracks too well and I'd be in hot water with the Hale's and the CIA. She'd pled not guilty and they'd believe her more than me. Number two, I don't even know if she did it.

I raced past the mumbling students and finally got to Erica's room. On the door, there were multiple threats and I knew for a fact it was booby-trapped. Curiosity took the better of me and I went up to knock.

Before I could touch the door though, Erica opened it. She arched an eyebrow, confused.

"Ben, what are you doing here?" Like she doesn't know!

Breathless from running, I panted, "I need to talk to you in private."

She frowned, a little suspicious, but yanked me inside her room.

I pretended I had never seen it before, but obviously, I have. Immediately, I look at her desk. It was clean. There was nothing but a lamp, pencil and packet of homework. All of her textbooks and more importantly, the folder, was gone.

She noticed me looking at her desk and shot me a side glance. I quickly looked away.

I didn't know how to start the conversation so I just ripped the bandaid off.

"So... uh... what do you think about the folder the principal was talking about?" I asked.

She gave me an exasperated sigh and said, "If the principal asked you to ask me to try to find it for him, tell him no. He shouldn't leave it out for some idiot to steal it. He should be more competent than that and I'm tired of cleaning up his messes. Now go away."

She sold that (what I think) was a lie so well, I was doubting my thought that she stole it. I mean, folders are common, right? And cleaning a desk is common... right after the principal was talking about it... Yeah no.

"No it wasn't the principal. I don't want to talk to the Idiot. I noticed you cleaned your desk." I tried to make polite conversation before jumping in the deep end, but then I realized what I said. Shoot. She now knows I was in her room.

Erica didn't notice, yet. "Yeah, it was getting messy and I couldn't really concentrate... wait." Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

I visibly grimaced. Erica's guard was up.

"Ben, how did you know I cleaned my desk? Why were you in my room?" Her tone was calm but there was danger behind it.

I spilled the beans. "Well, I needed a textbook to do my essay so I went to your room. The door was propped open so I went inside. I saw the note from SPYDER on your desk and... oh wait! Was that about the folder? Anyway, I saw the folder on your desk and forgot about it until the principal was talking about it. So I came here to talk to you." Words spewed out of my mouth.

For the first time in my life, I saw Erica becoming nervous and concerned. Her eyebrows nit in concentration.

"WHAT? You went in my room?" She shouted and suddenly grabbed the front of my shirt and slammed me against the wall. My head thudded against the wall and a drew in a sharp gasp. Erica's body was shaking in fury.

"Who'd you tell?" She snarled as she pinned me on the wall.

"No one!" I exclaimed hurriedly, "It just clicked together a second ago. Wait so it's true? You're working with SPYDER? You stole the folder?"

She blew out a huff, "Yes, you idiot, I stole the folder. But not for the reasons you think. No, I'm not working with SPYDER. Ben, there's a lot of stuff going on right now that you don't understand. You can't tell anyone about this or this meeting."

She released me and went to the floor and flipped a floorboard up. Inside, there was a getaway bag and she grabbed it and started to collect things. I stood there in confusion.

"Where you going? Explain this whole thing to me or I'm going to tell someone because you're acting awfully suspicious. All the signs point to you working with SPYDER." I became frantic.

She looked at me with venom in her eyes. "Don't tell anyone or it'll cause more problems for both of us. There's a mole in the school and I know who it is. Tread carefully and just believe me when I say you have no idea what's going on."

"Then why aren't you reporting the mole? Erica, be rational! You can't have a double agent running around the school."

She ignored me, "Ben, do I have your word you'll not tell anyone about this?"

I growled in frustration, "Not until you tell me what's going on."

Erica looks up from her packing and says, "Sorry, Ben, then I'll have to do this. No loose ends."

With that, she catches me right in the jaw. I wasn't anticipating this so I couldn't prepare for it. Pain shot through my body and I collapsed.

Erica stood over me with pity in her expressions. "Sorry Ben. I really am."

Then a boot came slamming down on my right temple and darkness followed.


	8. Operation Yeasty Meerkat

**Hi people! I've run out of things to say in these intros. I'll keep it short:**

 **I already had this written when I wrote chapter 7 but I wanted to wait a few days to post it. Here it is! Thank you all for reviewing, favoring and reading. For those who haven't reviewed, why not? I love hearing what you think, regardless if it's good or bad. Alright, read away! :)**

I awoke to voices talking all around me. Still half conscious, I picked up snippets of conversation.

"He's been out for at least two hours. Should we take him to medical?"

"The CIA's going to have a cow when they realize Erica's gone."

"They alright have."

"Mr. Ripley needs to to wake up for questioning. Someone wake him up."

"He was knocked unconscious, ya doofus. You can't just wake him up."

"Mr. Henning heard shouting from his room next to Miss Hale's. These rooms are so crappy. Poor kids. The walls are paper thin."

"Think we should take Mr. Henning into questioning?"

"Did anyone find Erica?"

"Why was Ben knocked out in Erica's room?"

"That's why we need to wake him up!"

"Shut up."

"Wait, did his eyes flutter?"

Through my squinted eyes, I noticed Zoe and Jawa looking annoyed with a bunch of random CIA agents. They were all looking at me with a mix of concern or annoyance etched on their expression.

"Ben?" Zoe asked, concerned.

I exhaled, just waking up.

"Uhhh." I groan.

"Enough of this!" said this snappy agent who was obviously in a bad mood, "Are still drinking that? Thanks."

She violently grabbed this poor agent's water and promptly dumped the whole cup on me.

"Ahh!" I sat up, angrily sputtering. I shot the agent (who I dubbed 'Water Balloon') a nasty stare.

"That worked." Water Balloon said smugly.

Hacking on the water, I sat up. Immediately, the questions started up.

"Why were you in Erica's room?"

"Why were you knocked out?"

"Who knocked you out?"

"Where is Erica?"

I tuned out most of their conversations until one in particular stood out.

"Wait what about Erica?" I had a suspicion she was leaving, but I had to get this new information.

"She disappeared. We don't know where or how she left. You are the only one who might know what happened. Why were unconscious in Erica's room?" Zoe asked.

I wasn't sure Erica wanted me to share her whereabouts with a getaway bag, but again, she hasn't been the most nice or loyal to me recently.

But I opted to lie anyway, "I don't know." I say, somewhat believable.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that believable. "Yeah right," Water Balloon sneered, "Mr. Ripley, we are here to detain you for questioning under the suspicion of kidnapping Erica Hale."

I can't hide my gasp of surprise.

"WHAT?! I'm accused of kidnapping Erica? I was unconscious in her room!" I exclaim, "How could this happen? I was knocked out _in_ her room! How could I have done this?"

"We don't know. Why don't you tell us and avoid the hassle of having to interrogate you." Water Balloon said, a small, smug grin appearing on her face.

"You'll have to interrogate him?" Jawa asked, confused.

"How does he not know why or how he was in Miss. Hale's room? That's absurd. Did someone knock him out in his room and drag him into Erica's room and _suddenly_ she disappears? That makes no sense!" Another annoying agent next to Water Balloon snapped.

"Well, maybe the whole thing was framed and the kidnapper wanted Ben to be accused." Jawa retorted angrily.

"We don't know for sure until we question Mr. Ripley." With that, an agent sneaks behind me and snaps a pair of handcuffs on my wrist and yanks me up.

Zoe and Jawa protest, but I say, "Guys, it's fine. Question me all you want. I have nothing to hide." That was an obvious lie and it didn't help my case with the CIA agents in the room. Zoe and Jawa backed off, but they looked concerned for me.

"Okay, but we know you didn't do it Ben." Zoe said, and walked out.

Two agents flanked me, and we walked toward god knows where.

XXX

Turns out, I was "lucky" and could see an area "not many students get to see." Yep. I was super "lucky." An interrogation room. Surprisingly, it wasn't scary and intimidating. In fact, it was kind of charming. There was a nice lounge waiting area, framed inspirational posters and new age music playing softly through the complex. I guess they wanted to calm the subjects before they make them spill their guts. Though I honestly found it all creepy.

They lead me to some type of interrogation room with a weird plush couch. Wow, those spy movies need to update their interrogation chambers. They sat me on the couch and handcuffed me to it. And just ditched me. Wow, thanks, dude.

And I waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, when I couldn't take it anymore, I glanced at the clock. It's been eight minutes. Darn.

At last, I heard commotion outside of the door. I heard a few sets of footsteps and one angry voice yell,

"I DON'T CARE!" A familiar voice roared, "I want to see that wicked rat that kidnapped my granddaughter!"

I cringed. If Cyrus Hale thought I kidnapped his granddaughter, I was in for one horrible night.

He barged in. It was kind of funny. He was so out of place in this female teenage's looking room. His old face was red in anger.

"You miserable pest! I will make this the worst night of your life! Where is Erica Hale ya disgraceful son of a - wait, Ben?" His once furious expression turned to confusion, "What are you doing here?"

I gave Cyrus a sheepish grin, "I was accused of kidnapping Erica."

"You?" Cyrus scoffed and turned to the agent accompanying him, "Is this a joke?"

The agent violently shook his head, "No sir. Mr. Ripley was found unconscious in Miss. Hale's room and she vanished. We can only assume it was Ripley here."

Cyrus scoffed again, "Ben couldn't kidnap a fly if he tried. There's no way he could kidnap the best junior spy at the academy. Erica could fight Ben off in her sleep."

I should have been disappointed in the lack of trust in my skill, but there's no questioning that. Erica once beat me in hand-to-hand combat class while eating a salad.

The agent looked uneasy, "Um… okay sir. But it is advised you still ask Ripley questions."

Cyrus shot the agent a nasty look, "Young man, you look barely out of high school. I've been protecting this country since your grandma and grandpa were in Pampers. So shut up and let me do my job." And then Cyrus proceed to ask me questions.

"So Ben, why were you Erica's room?" The agent rolled his eyes. I didn't really know who I could trust, but I know I can trust Cyrus. He, out of everyone, is least likely to betray his own granddaughter.

So I told him everything. I started with the trip to her room and finding the folder. I told him everything up to the point where she knocked me out. I only left one part out: the suspicious activity of Audrey. I had no solid proof, so I didn't want her to get in trouble (and that's what would happen if I told Cyrus) for something she didn't do.

After I told him everything, he said, "Wow." He looked frazzled and ran his hand through his graying hair.

I asked him a bold question, "Do you think Erica betrayed the CIA?"

He gave me a look, but didn't explode at the question, "Under normal circumstances, I would say no. But now, I'm not so sure."

I nodded, excepting that. It seemed that Erica left her grandfather in the dark about her plan. Unless he was a super good liar. Oh wait… that's his job. Shoot.

"Alright well…" He stood up and motioned for the agent, "Unlock him. He's not a threat. We need someone on this right away."

The agent grudgingly unlocked the cuffs and Cyrus lead me out of the weird room with the plush couch.

We started to walk and I noticed he was leading me towards the Nathan Hale Building (named after his and Erica's great, great, great, great… grandfather).

"Why are we going towards the Hale Building?" I ask.

Cyrus gave me a disappointed glance and said, "Well, it's obvious. Erica's missing or kidnapped. Whatever the case is, we need to find her. We need to talk to that douchebag principal of yours. There needs to be a mission initiated, ASAP. We need to get to the bottom of this."

XXX

We reach the principal's office and I walk in first. The principal, with his horrible toupee (this time, it looked like a dead rabbit with rabies) sneered at me as I walked in.

"Oh, you miserable delinquent. Why are you here, disturbing - Oh! Mr. Hale! A pleasure to see you, as always." It was evident that the Idiot looked up to Cyrus, but more importantly, could get him fired if Cyrus really wanted to.

"Never a pleasure to see you." Cyrus grumbled.

The principal frowned, but said nothing.

"What are you doing about your missing student?" Cyrus demanded.

The principal shot him a confused look, "A missing student…? Oh right!" The Idiot quickly recovered, "Yes, your granddaughter! Of course! We have our best agents on it, right now! In fact, the results from her room should be coming back right now…" He was cut off by Cyrus's shouts.

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT SOME STUPID RESULTS! I WANT MY GRANDDAUGHTER BACK, AND I WANT IT NOW." If I hadn't know better, I would think it was a toddler throwing a tantrum at Toys R Us. Nonetheless, I was scared of this outburst. Cyrus is very scary when he wants to be, which is always. The principal seemed intimidated as well.

"Well, um… of course sir! Right away! We must organize, a... , a… mission! Of course! With our best men!" The principal stuttered.

"Not your best men," Cyrus growled, "I'll tell you who's going. Ben Ripley, of course. He is in the center of all of this." The principal gave me a nasty look, but said nothing.

Cyrus continued, "I think that the girl Zoe should go, that guy Mike, Chip, even though he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, Jawa and we need an advanced agent. Uhmm…" He thought for a moment, "Hey, isn't that new girl Audrey talented? Isn't she top, under Erica of course, of the summer schooling program and was in the finals of the tournament?"

The principal nodded. A feeling of unease went through my body. As much as I had no proof of Audrey doing anything, I still didn't trust her. I didn't want her on this mission. But I couldn't say anything, or that'll open a whole can of worms.

"Yeah, that Audrey girl. I want her the leader and head of the mission. No adults. The CIA's as corrupt as it is anyway." Cyrus demanded.

The principal quickly authorized the mission, "Yes sir. Everything's good to go. Audrey, huh, I don't see a last name, will lead Operation Yeasty Meerkat." Cyrus and I both cringed at the name. But I had more concerning things on my mind:  
Audrey who doesn't have a last name and who I don't trust is in charge of a mission. And me.


	9. Sketchy White Van

**Long time no see and I am so sorry about that! But it's almost winter break AND CHRISTMAS/KWANZAA and you don't know how ready I am! And is currently Hanukkah so Happy Hanukkah for those who celebrate it! Schools been a killer, trying to get all the tests and stuff in before break so I'm sorry for not updating! But seriously! IT'S ALMOST HERE! I'm so in the spirit; I got my lights, tree, decorations, gingerbread house and cookies all make and up. Is anyone going anywhere fun for the break? Any travel plans? Let me know! OK, yes, I'm rambling. But please enjoy this chapter!**

"BEN!" Zoe screamed at me, startling me when I was working on my homework.

"What?" I asked.

"Thank you so much for selecting me for this mission. You know, we all are very thankful. Mike and Chip won't shut up about it! And you know how much I care about Erica…" Zoe rambled on for a while after that and I started to tune her out.

"Anyway! I just wanted to say thanks. And I was just talking with Audrey. She's excited too. Her first CIA mission, she's leading it and she hasn't even had any official classes yet! But I agree with you: she's definitely qualified to, and will probably nicer about it than Erica."

I didn't mention the fact that it wasn't my idea for Audrey to head the mission. Audrey and Zoe have gotten a lot closer nowadays. They have a lot of classes together and Zoe needed a girl friend. Erica wasn't exactly the most 'lets paint nails together' person and Mike and I refused to. We also didn't enjoy Zoe rambling about all the gossip and 'girl talk' we were forced to listen to.

But Audrey was perfect for that. They were both girly-girl and found gossip and painting nails an enjoyable pastime (which I can't even fathom). Even though Audrey has her own friend group, they still hung out often. Zoe hasn't been murdered yet with Audrey, so I could tell she wasn't totally evil (or maybe not at all, but I'm still suspicious).

Zoe, at first, was suspicious, but kind of got blinded by Audrey's kindness and beauty, so she dropped her suspicious accusations. And once she got closer to her, she thought she was nice and fun, and her room wasn't full of top-secret documents she shouldn't have (Erica, however, was a different story) so she had no evidence and chose to drop it. But that caused problems for me because I didn't trust Audrey and I couldn't talk to Zoe about it. Even though Zoe's my friend, she's also Audrey's friend and I'm worried she'd blab to Audrey.

"Yeah, no problem. I'm worried about Erica, but she's been a little suspicious before she disappeared. I hope this is a rescue mission, not an enemy attack. But we'll see." I reply.

Zoe frowned, like this hadn't occurred to her.

"Huh. Yeah, I hope not. I don't think any of us could take Erica in a fight. Well, maybe Audrey could. I don't know. You knew she threw that fight right? In the finale? She didn't really try."

"I could tell. She's way more skilled for Erica to beat her by a landslide." I reply.

Zoe nodded, "I was talking to her about it," That peaked my interest. I was wondering why she gave up. Zoe could have crucial information. I leaned in closer.

"Why? Why'd she throw the fight?"

"She thought it was dumb. Fighting someone else for entertainment. She said she's fine with sparring, to train, but didn't like the prospect of the whole tournament. Kind of like the Hunger Games, she was saying. I get where she's coming from. It's kinda weird the whole school was watching too."

I sagged. I was hoping somewhere along the lines of: 'She was working with a terrorist organization and didn't want anyone to figure out she had professional training.' But Audrey's reasoning made perfect sense.

"So why'd she even sign up for it?" I asked, curious.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask her?" Zoe replied. Yeah, no way, "Oh! I forgot! Is Cyrus going with us or is any adult from the CIA coming on the mission?"

I shook my head, "No. The CIA is super corrupt right now. I heard a rumor that they caught a Russian spy deep within its workings. I think he wants this to be covert. And when we find her, we'll radio Cyrus and he can take it from there. But he's fairly sure she's there. He heard chatter, in code, about some 'enemy hostage' taken to that location by SPYDER."

"Oh okay. Anyway, I just came her to say thanks on the behalf of everyone you selected. We're all super excited." With that, Zoe walked away.

It still, to this day, struck me odd that everyone wanted to be picked for this mission. If I was them, I wanted to be cozy in my bed, not potentially running for my life. They're talking about it like I selected them for a trip to the Caribbean.

Anyway, I had to get packing. We're taking a van to an undisclosed location in the morning. We have to find Erica, whether she's good, or bad.

XXX

I woke up earlier than my comfort zone. 5:15 AM. Shoot. I was supposed be at the gate at 5:30. Racing, I wolfed down a breakfast burrito and got changed. I grabbed my light duffel (I was told there is limited space on the van and only the necessities can be brought.)

I ran to the front driveway and glanced at my watch. 5:28. Just in time. Unfortunately, I walked up and saw Audrey, Mike, Chip, Jawa, Zoe and worst, Cyrus glaring at me. There were a few other CIA agents as well.

"Glad you could finally join us. We've been waiting for at least fifteen minutes. They all knew they were supposed to be here, so they were early. Have you heard the expression 'if you're on time, your late?' Same rules apply." Cyrus glared disdainfully at me.

I cast my eyes down, "Sorry sir."

He grunted in disapproval, "At any rate, we must get going. Agent Jacob Evanstein will drive you to the location in," Cyrus pointed to a white van that most mothers warn their children of getting near, "that van. From there, you will infiltrate the building, keeping an eye out for my granddaughter. If you see her, report it immediately. If not, come back, and we'll figure another location."

Jacob Evanstein nodded at us. I recognized him. He was the guy who was guarding me in the interrogation room while Cyrus was in there. He looked really young, in his mid-twenties.

"Good to see you again, Mr. Ripley." He said politely.

"You too sir." I reply.

Everyone started to load the van. The other CIA agents were talking and my fellow classmates were packing their luggage in the trunk of the van. I saw Jacob and Cyrus talking.

"Ripley and Audrey!" Cyrus snapped after finishing with Jacob, "Come over here!"

Audrey and I exchange a confused glance and walk over.

"I'm going over the mission one more time, so we have it down. Agent Evanstein will drop you all off at the old soup kitchen on Potter Way. Lemme say, for the record, I don't totally trust and know Evenstein. He's just to drop you off at the location and even if he is evil, you can overpower him. He can only do this because he was in the interrogation room with us and I don't want more people to know of this whole thing than necessary. If you find nothing, radio me and I'll call for an extraction and if Erica is in there, radio me and try to convince her to come back. I have no clue if she's captive or there by choice, so I'll leave it to your best judgement. Got it?" Audrey and I nod to Cyrus, "Okay, good. Get going."

We stroll back to the van where everyone is already in and claimed the best spots. Apparently, the drive is at least three hours, so we're in for the long haul. Everyone wanted shotgun but since Audrey is the leader of the mission, she goes up front with Jacob.

And our journey starts.

XXX

I think I dozed off at one point, but I'm not sure. Someone, I think it was Chip (but he'd never admit it), farted so it reeked in the van for about a half a hour until Jacob couldn't handle it so we stopped at a Get-On-Out burger for a 'bathroom break' to air out the van.

Everyone went to the restroom and as I walked out, I saw Audrey and Jacob talking like they'd know each other for a while. To my knowledge, they didn't know each other that well, but they were talking like old friends. Audrey only joined two months ago and that would be such a crazy coincidence they would know each other from before. As I approached, they acted like they were never talking. I acted like I wasn't suspicious, but I was. For sure.

We got back in the van and drove for another hour-ish. Jawa started a game of I-Spy (ironic, right?) and the game didn't have many spy techniques used in the real word of espionage so it should be called 'looking at random things and hoping someone will notice it too.' We all, Jacob included, reluctantly played.

After another hour, I noticed something strange about the road. There was a highway sign that said 'Entering West Virginia.' This was weird because we were supposed to be heading north towards Pennsylvania. Unless we were going through West Virginia, which would add roughly nine more hours to our drive, we were heading the opposite direction.

Butterflies started to appear in my stomach, but no one else seemed to notice this. Jacob keep acting like he had the whole drive, annoyed at this assignment.

"Uhh…" I finally got the courage to speak up, "Where are we going?" Everyone else in the car, not including Jacob and surprisingly, Audrey, looked around. They noticed the same thing I did.

"Yeah, you're right…" Mike said suspiciously, "We're in West Virginia." Zoe, Chip, Mike and Jawa gave cold looks at Jacob.

Jacob shrugged, not concerned, "It's a shortcut. Says so on Google Maps."

"Really?" Jawa says in condescending sarcasm, "because I'm looking right now and it appears to add eight hours to our drive."

I looked at Audrey because, surprisingly, she hasn't said anything. I noticed a change in her behavior. She was tensed up, suspecting a fight of some sort. Her whole body language changed and a darker mood overcame our 99 bottles of beer on the wall drive. The cheery, roadtrip vibe suddenly died. Audrey's eyes narrowed dangerously and glared.

"Okay, what the heck is going on?" Zoe stated angrily, "Jacob, if you're trying to kidnap us, it's not going to work. There's six of us and one of you."

"Oh really?" Jacob sneered and it all became clear: he wasn't working with us. "What are you going to do?"

"Take over this van." stated Chip.

"Actually," Audrey snarled, "that won't be happening." Audrey's pretty face overcame with an evil smirk and she pulled out a gun and pointed it at us.

Multiple different things happened at once. I felt Mike tense up in fear next to me. Zoe screamed, "You betrayed me!" Chip, from the way back, shouted, "Were you evil the whole time?!" and Jawa, the sensible one, pulled out his own gun at pointed it right back at Audrey. All I could think was 'I WAS RIGHT!'

"Drop your gun Audrey." Jawa demanded.

Audrey gave a malicious but somehow still sweet laugh, "Oh really?" In a second, she swiveled in her seat and grabbed my shirt front and yanked it towards her. I was in the middle seat and pulled towards the front of the van. I felt a cold gun barrel pressed against my temple. Jawa's face paled and gun wavered a bit. Through my peripheral vision, I saw Jacob watching us with an amused expression.

"How about you drop your gun and I won't blow Ben's brains out?" Audrey's smirk just grew.

Jawa surrendered and set his gun in Jacob's outstretched hand, driving with only one hand.

"Fine, I gave it up. Let Ben go." Jawa's voice shook. Normally, we would be at the advantage, seeing we overpowered them in numbers, but we knew that Audrey could defeat all of us by herself.

"Alright, I'm gonna let Ben go. But if anyone tries to do anything funny, I'm shooting him right in the head. We have more than enough without him." Audrey still faced us, gun pointing at me.

I had no words. Even though I was suspicious and pretty sure Audrey was evil, it doesn't prepare you for when you are right. It was a bitter-sweet moment. Sweet because I was right. Bitter because there was a good chance you could die. I guess more bitter than sweet.

"So where are we going? Who do you work for?" Mike asked, apprehensive.

Audrey gave him a sweet, condescending grin, "Knew you were going to ask that sweetie! I'm not dumb like Joshua, so I won't bore you with the details of our 'evil plan! How the world will soon be ours!' but instead just say that it would has gotten to the destination without a fight if Ben didn't noticed. Joshua made the mistake of delivering his great plan to you guys before it even happened. Josh needs something to fuel his cockiness. I'm not an idiot, so I won't tell you. Ben has a history of stopping us, so I'll keep quiet. Jacob, will you pull over?"

"Gladly." Jacob smirked and pulled over.

"You were in it too?" Zoe asked, disappointed.

"Not originally. But SPYDER needed someone inside, so they paid me off. I'd gotten a lot of pressure to join them for most of my life now. I arranged for me to guard Agent Hale to the interrogation room and listened to Ben and Cyrus talk. I reported it all to Audrey and the whole plan came together!" Jacob grinned.

"So what was the plan?" Mike tried to ask innocently.

"Ha! I'm not that dumb. Everyone, get out with hands in the air." Jacob put the van in park and all the good people exchanged a glance. Defeated, we exited the van with our hands up. Audrey came out first and pointed the gun at us.

Jacob came around with a box of handcuffs and started to handcuff Mike. He didn't protest, because he knew it was a lost cause. Chip and Jawa, however, tried to fight back but Audrey simply punched them in a painful spot and they doubled over in pain. While injured, Jacob handcuffed them.

I didn't protest. I had no clue what to do. I normally rely on someone else with more skills than me to bail me out, but I knew we were in a dire situation.

After he restrained us, he went back to the van and moved all our luggage out of reach from our seat and Audrey gestured with her gun for us to get back in. We obeyed.

I tried to get a read on Audrey. She showed no hint of remorse or regret in her actions and attitude. But I had a sense she, even in the deepest part of her, felt bad. Or maybe that was just my wishful thinking, since she is basically our only hope, and she's evil.

We drove in silence. Audrey kept the gun pointed at us most of the drive but got bored after a while. But we didn't try anything. It was an useless risk.

But something kept bugging me about what Jacob had said. 'I'd gotten a lot of pressure to join them for most of my life now.' Most of his life? That's interesting. Shouldn't it be a few months or years maybe at the most? Life? He's not that young. Jacob. Jacob Evanstein. Evanstein. Evan… E! _E_ vanstein. E. E… Where have I heard some asosation with someone evil with an E…?

It hit me so hard that I gasped. Mister E. Is there a connection?

 **There you are folks! Because it's the holidays, I probably won't update very frequently (as you may have noticed). I'm so sorry about that and Happy Holidays!**


	10. Tower of actual Terror

**Hey guys! It's almost winter break!!! Ahh! I banged this one out pretty quickly and sorry it's unedited. I need to get to bed! :) Enjoy!**

We sat in silence for the rest of the drive. But my mind was anything but silent. I was reflecting on everything since Audrey got to school.

She was pretty, maybe even too pretty, to be a normal student. Erica was too, but she's a legacy. Audrey was obviously sent here by SPYDER, just like how Murray was sent. The CIA got burned, again. But SPYDER used a different tactic this time. Instead of using a fat, incompetent idiot to play double agent, they sent a hot, competent agent. It's funny how both of the top students are both the hottest ones. They have familiar and sort of the same type of badass beauty. It makes sense why Audrey would throw the fight. I still, to this day, haven't seen Audrey fight to her full potential. And I'm not sure I want to.

But what I was even more shocked about was how Erica didn't catch on. She must have noticed the signs. How a pretty girl was taking an interest in me. How she's so skilled in combat and weaponry. But now that I think about it, it's so obvious. So why didn't Erica catch on?

But maybe she did. Maybe she knew from the start. But why didn't she say anything to anyone? She could have been threatened, but Erica isn't the one to take threats from anyone. She's more the one dolling out the threats.

Which brings up a whole other point: Where is Erica actually? It's evident the whole 'chatter' Cyrus heard was all a setup by SPYDER to get him to authorize the mission. SPYDER thinks far ahead. They got Jacob to guard Cyrus and hear all the plans. But did SPYDER kidnap Erica? The last I heard of her, the last anyones heard of her, seemed like she was leaving by choice. And she probably isn't in an abandoned soup kitchen.

There's a tiny part of me that says Erica is working with SPYDER, not against them. There is a lot of evidence towards that claim, but a lot more common sense saying otherwise. Then I remembered something that Erica once told me:

'Don't trust her Ben. Be careful around that lover of yours.' It sounds like a warning. Maybe Erica did know about what's going on and tried to warn me!

Or maybe she was trying to manipulate me. I mean, that note from SPYDER and that stolen folders don't lie.

I wonder who put it in there. I would immediately think Audrey but she won't want to risk getting caught that early in the plan. I next think of Jacob.

Jacob is a wild card right now. I have no idea what's up with him. How much does he know, what's his backstory and most importantly, what's his connection with SPYDER?

Jacob Evanstein. I heard rumors about the notorious Mister E, leader of the whole SPYDER organization.

'I've gotten a lot of pressure most of my life now.'

That line keeps repeating in my head over and over. Although E is a common last name, that thing Jacob said really swayed my desisons. Is Jacob related to Mr. E? If so, he is really valuable to the-

A screeching of tires tore me away from my thoughts. The whole van jolted away from the freeway and started down a steep dirt hill towards who knows where.

At first, my train of thought was 'we're being saved!' But then I saw Jacob grinning wildy and steering down the rocky hill.

My fellow students were making faces or terror as we fell possibly to our deaths. We were also handcuffed, so we couldn't grab onto anything. We just prayed to the seatbelt lord that those things held. Audrey was smiling like she was on Tower of Terror at Disney world.

I refrained from screaming. Finally, the van slowed and we reached the bottom of some type of ditch. There, two vehicles waited for us.

One was a large cargo truck you see with the Walmart logo on the freeway. A huge truck for transporting things. Another car was a van, similar to the one we were in. Oh and did I forget to mention the dozen men with automatic rifles pointed at us? Yeah, I had a bad feeling about this.

Next to me, Zoe whispered, "We are so dead."

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Really needed that.

"Get out." Audrey stated and yanked the van door open. She pointed her own handgun at us, but that was kind of useless with the commandos standing right behind her.

We obebdntly followed her orders and once we were all out, we were herded like cattle in the center of the ditch.

"Wow, I feel pretty special. I mean, all you guys mobilizing in the morning to meet us. You must think I'm a big threat. I feel honored." Mike smiled cockily.

Now was so not the time. Those snarky remarks work in Capture the Flag, not when a dozen guys are pointing guns at you.

Jawa was gonna hiss something to Mike, but an evil agent walked foward and put his gun barrel right onto Mike's forehead. I saw beads of sweat forming at the baseline of his hair.

"Permission to shoot?" The agent said in a monotone voice.

Audrey, Jacob and some other agents they were talking to looked over. It was clear they were the ones in charge. They glanced at each other and Audrey sighed.

"As much as I'd like to authorize that, we need all the hostages we can get. Permission denied." And she went back to talking.

The agent's eyes narrowed angrily, but stepped back. Mike gave an audible sigh of relief. Audrey has power, so she must be well established within SPYDER's workings.

"Welcome junior CIA agents!" A man, in charge, called out cheerfully, "As you may have noticed, you're now SPYDER's hostages! Congratulations!"

"No really?" Chip sarcastically muttered quietly, "I thought we were going to a birthday party!"

The man opened the back to the cargo truck. It was customized for us. It had gross wooden benches lining the sides and one lonely lamp swinging from the top.

"Get in! You'll have a blast!" The man gestured us inside and a stole a glance at him. It finally occurred to me to register these SPYDER agents I've never seen before into memory. The only real agents I saw were Joshua and the teachers from evil spy school. But none of them were Mr. E. But could this man be?

I decided no because they wouldn't send an important man like himself on this low mission. Plus, he looked nothing like Jacob, so I assumed Jacob was related to Mr. E already.

We climbed in and right as the door was going to shut on our musty ride, I heard Jacob say,

"Yes, this is Agent Jacob Evanstein paging Agent Cyrus Hale. I have dropped the agents off at the destination. Reporting back now." I wanted to yell something, but the guns pointed at me left the words at the base of my throat.

"Alright agent. Just for security, can I have a word with one of the agents?" Cyrus' voice held a bit of suspicion.

For a second, Jacob's face turned white with terror, but quickly recovered.

"Of course sir. Here's Audrey, right now." Jacob shoved the phone to Audrey.

"Yes sir. Agent Evanstein dropped us off outside of the kitchen but we see no signs of activity. We'll radio when we have information. Going radio silent." And shut the phone off before he could reply.

"Let's go." She walked into the truck with us surprisingly, probably for security. Three more heavily armed agents accompanied her. The door slid shut behind them.

We sat in silence for a minute. After a while, something occurred to me. Everyone addressed her as Audrey. Not Agent someone. I never learned her last name.

Gathering the courage, I asked, "Audrey, what's your last name?"

She glanced at me, almost as a dare. But she raised an eyebrow and glanced at another agent who was in charge and gave her a curt nod.

She smirked, "Hale."

 **Some of you guessed it. Sorry [Not sorry] to leave you at the cliffhanger. See you soon! :)**


	11. That bitter, distant relative

**Sorry, it took me a long time to upd** **ate. Holidays. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I hope for good luck and prosperity for all of you in this coming year. 2019! Wow! Time flies.** **I'm not too proud of this chapter. It is also short. It was written in cars, on airplanes and in hotel rooms all on my phone. So I'm sorry.** **This chapter has a mention of an affair so if you're sensitive to that type of stuff, be warned. Alrightio! Happy Post Holidays! Enjoy!**

Everyone around me reacted in different ways. Shock overcame the van. I felt my mouth open in shock, then close, then open again. I must have looked like a fish. My fellow spies didn't look any better. I saw Jawa open his mouth to say something, then close it. There were no words. How was Audrey related to Erica? Did Erica know? There were too many questions.

"How are-? What did-? Does she-?" Chip struggled for words, "You don't look like sisters."

Audrey smirked, enjoying our discomfort and confusion. "No kidding Sherlock."

Chip was still trying to wrap his tiny mind around this so he ignored the jab.

"How are you related to Erica? Or is it another Hale?" Zoe asked.

"It's another Hale. Just a crazy coincidence!" Audrey snapped sarcastically, but then smiled wickedly.

"I guess I'll tell you losers, since it's not really a secret and you'll find out anyway. I am a Hale, but not directly related to Erica." Audrey started. We wanted to hear the whole story, so we didn't interrupt.

"I am two years younger than Erica. I am related through Alexander. Alexander, two years after the birth of Erica, he had a mission and apparently had an affair with a women on the mission. If you ask him, he'll probably say it was for the purpose of the mission only. Don't believe that crap that comes out of his mouth. That women was my mom. My 'daddy' left me and my mom by ourselves. I doubt he knows I was born. When I was six, my mom and I moved to my uncle's farm because we were stone cold broke. My mom didn't know Alex was a spy, but I had a suspicion when I was older. I saw some of his old stuff my mom kept and it looked suspicious to me. Weird pictures and documents. My uncle taught me how to fight and how to shoot on the farm. I got so good, I competed in tournaments. That's where SPYDER found me. They gave me money and told me the truth about my father. At first, I didn't believe them, but they showed me a picture of Alexander and Erica. I could see myself in them. I was angry, so SPYDER gave me an opportunity to get revenge. I needed the money as well, so it was a perfect situation. I joined and moved up the ranks with SPYDER. They presented me the chance to be a mole in Spy School and I took the job. I could finally meet my sister and father. SPYDER came up with a plot that'll level Spy School to the ground. And all they needed was a mole. The whole plan is coming full circle."

We all stared in shock. I was at a loss for words. Luckily, Zoe wasn't.

"So what is the plan?" Zoe tried to sound innocent, but failed miserably.

Audrey grinned, "I am not that dumb."

Suddenly, the van started to move. If I was not strapped in, I would have fallen flat on my face.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see." was Audrey's simple answer.

And we were off. My mind was racing. Apparently, Audrey was the product of an affair with Alexander and another women on a mission. And she was out for revenge.

But somethings were still nagging me about the whole thing.

"Does Erica know about you? Does Alexander?" I asked.

Audrey glanced at me, "I doubt Alexander even remembers my mom. Erica, how could she? You guys are the first I've told at Spy School. The whole reason I'm telling you is because you won't make it out of SPYDER's HQ alive." Wow, comforting.

"So where is Erica? Did you guys take her?" Mike spoke up.

Audrey actually started to laugh, "That was the best coincidence ever! SPYDER was trying to find a way to send us on a mission, but before that happened, Erica ran away, presenting the best opportunity! So, no, we didn't take her. I didn't talk to that idiot of a half-sister unless I needed too. I didn't want her somehow recognizing me. She wasn't my focus. I-" She suddenly cut herself off as her hand flew to her ear. Huh. I didn't realize she had an earpiece.

"Uh-huh. Yep. Okay. Yes, we have the materials. Are you kidding? No, alright. Bye." Audrey's hand removed itself from her ear.

"Sorry, guys, looks like this talk is over. I have direct orders from up top. Hate to do this to ya." Audrey smirked and that's all I saw because the guards inside the truck snuck behind us and snapped burlap bags over our heads. Strangled cries rang through the truck, but were quickly silenced by the unmistakable click of a gun.

The air around me was stuffy and smells gross. My throat suddenly became dry and I licked my parched lips. I couldn't get that much air into my lungs and started to panic. It didn't last long though because I felt a needle enter the back of my neck and a sleepy feeling washed over me as my eyelids started to close.

XXX

I awoke sometime later to hushed voices talking. We were still on the truck and even though I couldn't see, I could tell I was the only prisoner awake. They must have hit us with some strong sedative. I strained to hear the conversation which was between Audrey and a guard. I kept silent.

"Mr. E's pissed at you." The guard said.

"Surprise." She said sarcastically, "Not an uncommon occurrence. What'd I do this time?"

"You didn't answer or even acknowledge one of our notes. You know, SPYDER goes through a lot of trouble to send those things."

"What?" The confusion was clear in Audrey's voice, "I've always replied to the notes. Every single one of them. No matter how pointless they are. What'd the note say? Did you write Hale on it so if anyone found it they'd bland Erica?"

"Don't know, but I think it was congratulating you on finding the location of that malinal folder. Yeah and they put Hale. Don't think it was too important. Big boss is just a little pissed, that's it. Jake told him to calm down."

Oh my god!! The note! The folder! It makes sense now! Erica found the note, or maybe knew about it all along. She knew she wasn't supposed to receive the note and connected the dots to Audrey being the recipient. She probably could tell Audrey was a Hale. Erica must have been confused. She stole the folder before Audrey could get her hands on it and ran away so Audrey couldn't find her! No wonder she made me promise to not tell anyone. She was trying to protect me and herself and her plan. It makes sense now! But where is Erica now? And who's Jake?

"Oh shoot!" Audrey exclaimed, "I totally forgot about the folder! I knew where it was, but then someone else stole it. It slipped my mind when Erica disappeared and the new mission started."

"WHAT?" The guard yelled, "Someone else has the folder?! Who? We needed that!"

"Keep your panties on Dash! Relax! I don't think it's all that important now that the CIA authorized the mission and we have the hostages. But I'm fairly sure who has it now."

"Who?"

"Ripley."

 **Not the best chapter, must I admit, but after the whole holiday wave washes over, I'll update WAY more often. It's been almost a month. Sorry guys!!**


	12. The Interrogator'

**Hello again. This took longer than anticipated, but it's here now! It's a bit longer than my short chapters I've been posting, so here you are. Sorry for the cliffhanger, once again. And please enjoy and review! Have a great day!**

I tried to listen to the rest of their conversation, but once it shifted towards their NCAA brackets, I started to doze off. I don't know if I fell asleep or if I was drowsy from the drugs, but whatever the case was, I was out of commission.

I awoke a bit later when sunlight was streaming into the truck. Well, diluted light through that dumb bag. I didn't know if it was my breath that smelled bad or if it was the bag. I really needed some mints after today. I heard my fellow spies groan as they were waking from the drugs.

"Where are we?" Mike asked groggily.

"SPYDER headquarters. And a new one, not the one Ben blew up." I heard Audrey hop out of the truck.

I felt a rough, calloused hand grab me by shoulder and yank me out of the truck. With fresh air, I sucked up as much as I could and as I hit the ground, my knees buckled. My knees only buckle after sitting for at least five hours, so we were driving for at least that time.

I heard thuds as my friends were getting shoved out of the truck.

"Can you please take this stupid bag off my face?" I pleaded to whoever was listening, "I can't breathe!" I heard some hurried whispers and I felt a hand grasp the top of the bag and pull it off. Sunlight flooded my vision and for a moment I was blinded by the light.

I saw guards with giant guns standing everywhere. We seemed to be at some type of plane hanger by the lines on the ground, but there wasn't a plane in sight. There were black SUV's surrounding our truck and a wire fence with barbed wire around the airfield. In the distance, I saw a cluster of buildings, looking like a military base. It didn't seem like something that SPYDER would opt for, but I was impressed they could pick themselves up so quickly after their pitfall. But then I saw a sign that was covered in spray paint. It was black, but I could make out 'US Air Force' on it. So they hadn't built this complex. They commanded it from an abandoned Air Force base. That makes a lot more sense and was kind of genus. All of the armed forces don't have constant contact with each other so I bet that most people don't know this base is abandoned. They could even probably smuggle planes or missiles into the base and barely anyone would raise an eyebrow. Still, seemed kinda swanky for SPYDER.

I saw all my fellow spies looking at the surrounding area as well. It was in the desert as well so mostly barren wasteland with no town in sight. We looked at one another with raised eyebrows and confused faces. Zoe mouthed to me ' _what is this place?'_ I tried to gesture to the blacked-out poster with my handcuffed hands, but ended up gesturing with my head. She followed my head and noticed the sign. Her eyes widened and she nodded in understanding.

Guards herded up my friends in a giant group, but one guard grabbed my forearm and pulled me in another direction.

"You're going over here." The guard snarled in my ear as he pulled me towards the cluster of buildings.

"What? Why?" I quipped.

"Your friends will be fine, I think. You, however, have information we need. Information about a certain folder."

"Yeah, well, I have no clue about any folder." I lied.

"Ha! Yeah right!" He stopped walking to talk to a gate agent.

I saw Audrey approaching me. This is the first time we've been alone since the whole betrayal. I still can't believe that she would do that. It seemed like she is two different people.

"Hi." I say tentatively.

"Hey." She nodded towards me, a little suspicious.

"So are we going to talk about it?" I asked bravely.

"What?"

"The elephant in the room." I said.

"What elephant?" then she sighed, "I don't owe you any explanation but I guess I'll tell you some things."

"Okay." I was willing to take whatever she would give me.

"This is all going to be common knowledge, so I'll tell you personally. Ben, I never disliked you. I never meant to hurt you. This is strictly business, so I did what I had to do. I really liked you and Zoe. That part I wasn't faking. If I was a regular recruit, I would love hanging with your group. You're all so cute, small and sweet kids. But I knew from the start I was assigned to get close to you and I thought I'd hate you from the stories I heard. SPYDER just hates you from the times you stopped their plans. I honestly think you're smarter you give yourself credit for. That's partly because you compare yourself to my sister. Anyone next to her is disappointing."

"Except you." I muttered.

I wasn't intending for her to hear me, but she did and laughed. Not the malicious laugh I was used to hearing lately, but the nice, sweet laugh I used to hear before I knew she was evil.

"I guess so. But still, I am sorry about all of this. Guess it takes a Hale to take out a Hale. Erica probably won't be stopping us and without you, she's nothing, but she'll never admit it. You're getting interrogated for that folder you have and if you give it up we won't have an issue. We just need it and we won't have to kill you. Probably." She muttered that last part under her breath, "But I won't like it if we have to."

The gate agent waved Audrey over.

She glanced over, "Sorry Ben, gotta go. We'll run into each other sometime. In the meanwhile, if you have an issue, talk to me and I can see what I can do. Even though you're technically the enemy, I still think you're too sweet and naive for this line of business. Catch you later." She smiled and walked off.

"You'll probably see me at my execution day." I grumbled. She pretended she didn't hear me, but I know she did.

But as she walked away, I couldn't help but thinking ' _Damn, she has the prettiest eyes.'_

XXX

The guard finished his conversation and started to lug me off again. But the whole time, I was thinking.

' _Ben, don't fall for her. You don't like her; she's the enemy. You have a crush on Erica, not Audrey.'_

My mind was racing the entire time. As much as I want to deny it, I still have some feelings for Audrey, despite what she did. But it's super weird and kinda creepy that I like both Audrey and Erica and they're sisters. But, damn, Audrey was smoking. And so is Erica.

Finally, we reached a large building. The guard inserted his card and we walked inside the building. It had gross, damp floors and it was all concrete. I gathered that this must be the place where they kept enemies when it was an Air Force base because there were signs on the walls that said 'Cell 1-14 ←' and 'Cell 14-30 →' SPYDER also must be storing their enemies and hostages in here.

But to my surprise, they didn't take me to any cell. Instead, they led me towards an unmarked room. Two guards stood in front of the door and upon seeing me, they let us in.

It was a stereotypical interrogation room with the iron table, two iron chairs and concrete walls. The only thing missing is the one-way mirror. So I guess the movies got it mostly right.

I was honestly terrified. Spy School had a class called 'Intro to Interrogations' but it was mostly 'how to not get caught to be interrogated', so that didn't help very much. I knew SPYDER wasn't going to take it easy on me, given I thwarted their plans four times, so I was in for a long haul. Plus, I had no clue about where or what was in the folder. All I knew was that Erica had it. But, according to Audrey, she and the rest of SPYDER think I have it, so they'll probably not believe me when I say I don't have it. I don't know what to do.

The guard sat me in the iron chair and cuffed my hands behind me to the chair. He also cuffed my ankles to the legs of the chair. I can't believe they would honestly think I could or would try to escape. I'm too chicken to try and I have no experience getting out of handcuffs.

As the guard was leaving, he sneered, "Someone will be in here shortly. And good luck, son. She's tougher than nails. She'll get you to admit every bad thing you've done in your short, sorry life. You're lucky to make it out alive."

Oh that's much better. They're going to torture the answers out of me. He closed the door and I waited. And waited. And waited. And waited even longer. It could have been only ten minutes, but it felt like hours. Or maybe it could have been hours.

After a loooong time of waiting, the door finally opened. I saw a messy mop of brown hair and a boy holding some papers. I recognized that boy. Murray Hill.

XXX

I couldn't contain my shock. It wasn't a her, it was a him. I didn't know him to do interrogations. Maybe I was a special case. Maybe he wanted revenge on me. I had no clue.  
He had gotten taller then I last saw him as the assistant of that military dude. His once military haircut went back to the messy curls. And I think he put on another twenty pounds. Must be all that bacon. He grinned at me.

"Ben! Looking good, my friend. Been a while, hasn't it?" He smiled at me like we were old friends.

"Only two months." I growl.

"Really? I could have sworn it was longer. That's long for us, huh? Are you here to try to thwart SPYDER's plans?" He took a seat in the other iron chair and set his papers on the table.

I tried to conceal my confusion, "SPYDER has a plan going on right now?"

Murray realized he gave away something he shouldn't, "What? No! Haha, just kidding! It's a rebuilding year." He searched for a save face.

So not only do I have to get out of here, I have to thwart SPYDER. Again.

"Anyway, I'm glad to see you. I know you're supposed to see SPYDER's newest and best interrogator and I assure you, she's coming. But for now, you get me! I'm not here to ask questions or anything, I just wanna let you know what you're being questioned for and go over some legal mumbo-jimbo. But I just really want to ask: How are you?"

"Good." I reply simply, not sure where this conversation is going.

"Great!" I could tell he didn't believe me, but he pressed forward, "As you may or may not know, SPYDER needs information on a certain folder you currently have position of. You may not have it on you, but we need location and what you read or didn't read. What papers you went through or didn't go through. What you know or don't know. Simple, really. Just give us what we need to know and we won't have to torture you." Murray smiled again. It was getting on my nerves.

"I don't know anything about any folder. Is it the one the principal was missing and announced to the whole school?" I ask. I wasn't going to give any information to Murray, yet.

"I'm asking the questions here, Mister. Maybe, maybe not." Murray has seen _way_ too many cop and spy movies, "At any rate, I'm not supposed to ask any of the questions, but we're old friends. I'll take it easy on you. If you tell me everything you know about the folder, you won't even have to meet the new interrogator. I'll take everything to the higher ups and we'll be done."

"No." I snap. I don't want any favors from Murray.

"No?" He shook his head sadly, "It's always gotta be the hard way for you, huh? Well then, I need you to sign these papers that say you won't press charges for what happens in here, you won't tell anyone about it and you won't demand for us to pay for any damage to your persons in here. We normally don't do this, but it makes it a whole lot smoother for us."

SPYDER thinks I'll demand an evil insurance number for 'damages on my persons'? That's new and kind of humorous if it wasn't so dark. No way I'll sign those papers. So I told Murray.

"No way I'll sign these papers." I say.

Murray looked disappointed, "Your pride's always got to get in the way. Anyhow, it doesn't matter if you agree to or not. The interrogator will make you sign them. In fact," he paused, "she's here."

Just as he finished that sentence, the door swung open. 'The interrogator' walked in. To my surprise, she was a teenager, or maybe early twenties. And hot. Does SPYDER only hire cute or hot teenagers to work for them?

She was about 5'8 and had dark brown hair. Her flawless skin shined in the poor light. She had full lips and a perfectly shaped nose. But her eyes were her most outstanding feature. They were sea green and was intently staring at me with a look that says, 'I could murder you with my pinky finger.'

"She's here." Murray smirked.

"Move. Let me sit." The girl said. Her voice had a slight British accent. Not the voice I'd expect from a world-class interrogator. Murray obediently got up.

I was staring at her with what I hope was hate, not gaping at her, thinking she was pretty. I think it is even scarier being hot and badass. She didn't look particularly evil, except that gaze. That gaze will haunt me in my nightmares. It was ice cold.

The interrogator was looking at me with an intense, but also amused expression. Something was familiar in that look, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"So, Mr. Ripley," She started and was about to continue when I jumped in my chair a little from realization. She smirked and gave another amused expression.

Something was familiar in that voice, gaze, but most importantly smell. It smelled like lilac and gunpowder.

 **In case you have forgotten, this takes place between Spy School Secret Service and Spy School Goes South so nothing in SSGS is in here. There's your reminder and I hope you enjoyed the chapter! PS: Did anyone notice some Incredibles 2 lines in there? That movie was SO GOOD!**


	13. That I-figured-out-their-plan look

**AHHH! I AM SOOO SORRY FOR SUCH A LONG WAIT!!! I HAVE NO EXCUSE EXCEPT FOR FINALS!!** **Thank all you for the contuined support. Each review makes my day. Thanks for liking, following and reviewing. Seriosuly. Thanks. Without further ado, please enjoy!! :)**

I barely recognized her. She had disguised herself really well. Her normally dark, raven hair was dyed brown. Erica used an amazing British accent, which is probably part natural, seeing she's half English. She still had flawless skin and full lips, but this Erica here was wearing makeup. The Erica I'm familiar with doesn't bother with any skin care products. But her most well-known feature, her ice blue eyes, were disguised with contacts. The only way I recognised her was through her smell, which I was surprised she didn't cover up. Some easy perfume would do it.

Which brings me to my next point: how has she not been caught yet? If even I noticed this, how did Joshua Hallal not or even Murray, who let her in. A small voice in the back of my head was giving me a red flag. There is a possibility that Erica really did join them. I've been saying that a lot but it looks awfully suspicious right now.

But if that was true, why would she disguise herself if she was working with them? The only thing I can think of is maybe she wanted to hide from the CIA.

Ahh! This was making my brain hurt. Erica had been smirking amusingly at me the entire time. When I finally looked at her, she gave me a standard ice stare, but I saw something else in it. No one else would notice it, but I know her well. It had a warning like don't-you-dare-say-anything-or-I-will-hurt-you look to it. I kept my mouth shut, wondering where this conversation is leading me.

"So, Ripley, let's cut to the chase," Erica said, still in character, "What do you know about the folder?"

I had no idea what Erica wanted me to say for her plan to move forward, so I have her a wary glance. She subtly shook her head, barely noticeable.

"Nothing." I reply, "Nothing at all."

Erica cocked a delicate eyebrow, "Really? Because I'm only going to ask nicely once. You sure?"

"Yep!" I say confidently, "Hundred percent sure."

She clicked her tongue in mock disapproval, "I gave you a chance Mr. Ripley. I'll have to use more, ah, unpleasant means to get the information out of you." Even though her accent made her sound proper, it was still super intimidating. I shrunk under her gaze.

Even though she told me what to do, I was still subconsciously terrified.

Erica noticed me getting worked up and shot me a disapproving look. I pretended to be okay because I had a hot girl judging me and my self esteem was already plunging.

"Okay, I want the cameras and recording devices off!" Erica shouted to the corner of the room, where there was a camera I didn't notice.

A new voice, through the room's intercom, asked uncertainty, "Are you sure agent? What if Ripley tries to hurt you? We won't be able to help you."

Erica scoffed, "It's offensive you think Ripley is capable of beating me up. Plus, these methods of torture are against the law in every country, banned for cruel and unusual punishment and we'd all be arrested for using it. If the tape gets out, we'd be in jail for life. No cameras, no recording devices."

The overhead voice cackled in laughter, "You're right! Jake!! Turn the cameras and mics off!"

"Shutting off." I heard Jacob Evanstein's voice in the background. That traitor.

"Murray!" Erica called, "Come here!"

Murray scurried in, "Yes?"

"Make sure all of the cameras and recorders are off."

"Yes ma'am." He left the room.

We heard shuffling outside the door and Erica studied the wall, purposely not looking at me. I was still worried Erica might actually torture me. It seemed crazy after everything that had happened before, but I've learned never to put anything past her.

"Clear!" We heard Murray's weasley voice call in.

"Great." Erica automatically dropped the British accent, "So, Ben, how have you been?"

This caught me off guard, "How've I- how have _I_ been? Well it hasn't been all too peachy since somebody framed me for a stolen folder and ditched me!" I hadn't realized how angry I was at Erica until I had the time to talk to her privately.

Erica sighed exasperated, "I'm sorry about that, okay? But I did what was best for the mission."

"No, what was best for you."

She took a deep breath, "What was the best for the country."

"Was that even an assigned CIA mission? Or did you run off rogue?"

Erica rolled her eyes, "I didn't run off rouge. I had important information and needed to further the operation."

"Well, duh it wasn't official or else Cyrus wouldn't send us after you." I spat.

She just shook her head, "I did what I had to do. End of story."

"Yeah and what about forgetting to mention that YOUR FREAKIN SISTER WAS AUDREY?!" I was super pissed at Erica at this point. I felt like we friends or sort of friends but I feel like right now we are back at square one. The most important part of a friendship is trust.

Instead of looking apologetic, she frowned, "Ooh, you figured it out."

"Wha-" I sputtered, "No! Your sister told us! Geez Erica, what the heck? Why didn't you tell us?!"

"Calm down! Why are you getting worked up about this? I didn't know until a week or two after she joined Spy School."

"But still! You didn't feel like it was important enough to tell me?"

"Ben, how much do you know about this?"

"NOTHING!" I shouted, "Absolutely nothing! And that seems to be the problem right now, isn't it? Anything I know is what your SISTER told me."

"Alright, Ben, chill with the sister thing. I'll explain everything since I don't think you have any clue wants going on. I think you deserve that much."

"Yeah! Darn right I don't! Because, for the millionth time, I got dragged into something I didn't want to be a part of."

Erica exhalled, "Where should I start? I'll be honest with you Ben, I knew a mole from SPYDER was going to join spy school from the beginning. I was-"

"What?!" I exclaimed in shock, "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I'm getting there. Shut up. I knew that because every so often, I sneak into the principal's office, use the dictionary code, and browse his computer. About two months ago, I was investigating this new CIA chief that had no information in his file. That's super suspicious for a high ranked government official. His name was Jackson Monroe. He had no law-enforcement background or anything. Once while I was on the computer again, I noticed a subtle connection with a man named Henry Seabrook. Do you know know that is?"

The name sounded vaguely familiar to me, but I couldn't put my finger on where I'd heard it. I shook my head.

Erica sighed yet again. "Ben, you told me about Seabrook. He was your weaponry instructor at SPYDER's headquarters, remember?"

"Oh yeah! Mr. Seabrook! I thought the name sounded familiar. He was hardcore and rude."

"Right, so I remembered what you told me and further investigated. After digging for awhile, a found many small, but important SPYDER connections. Since then, I checked the principals computer more often, to see if Monroe was doing anything. I couldn't tell anyone about it or I'd have to explain why I knew that. I was also waiting to see if I could make a big move. Yes, I am thinking about the fame after my father made me look like an idiot again."

"So what does that have to do with now?" I ask, intrigued.

"About a week before Audrey arrived, I found an email personally delivered from Monroe to principal Sidebottom's email. Monroe mostly sent group emails, but this one was just to Sidebottom. It was about a new girl, Audrey, who had apparently been personally scouted by Monroe, to join spy school in the next week. From that point on, I knew that Audrey was a double agent. And that put me in a foul mood."

"No wonder you were so pissy at everyone before Audrey arrived! Because you knew she was a spy spying on the spies!" It made so much sense now! The attitude and the capture the flag game! Erica was mad because she knew there was going to be a double agent and couldn't do anything about it.

Erica narrowed her eyes at my choice of words, "Yes, I heard all you morons at spy school talking about how 'pissy' I was being. Now you know."

"That's why you ruined that capture the flag game. You were in a bad mood." I said in realization.

She scoffed at me, "I didn't ruin the capture the flag game. As I recall, someone asked me to join; I didn't ask to join. The reason I 'ruined' it was because Audrey was watching. I knew she needed to see that I'm in charge, and I'm a forced to be reckoned with. That's the only reason I agreed to play. But I guess that plan backfired."

"How so?"

"That made Audrey suspicious about me and how I might know something that I wasn't supposed to. But she didn't say anything and nor did I."

"Wait!" I spoke up, "What about the whole thing with Zoe? How you threatened her in the middle of the night?"

"Oh that. I must admit, it wasn't my proudest moment. I honestly feel bad for doing that to Zke, but she's easily intimidated and I had to use that against her. I couldn't have anyone knowing I was up, especially then when she was so close to Audrey. A night before, I found another private email from Jackson to Sidebottom. It was asking about the contents of a folder from another SPYDER investigation that had just wrapped up. I automatically knew that the investigators found some real evidence on SPYDER they obviously didn't want the CIA to know. I got all the information I needed on the folder and grabbed it. I also deleted the email so the principal could never find it. That idiot would find nothing suspicious about it and would tell Monroe everything he needed to know. I took the folder so in case the SPYDER sent anyone to extract it, it wouldn't be there. Which turned up to be the case. Anyway, on the way back to my room, I ran into Zoe. I was shocked and so I had to make sure she didn't say anything to anyone, which I guess she didn't since she told you and Mike. But I don't really care, as long as she didn't tell Audrey."

"Actually," I cut in, "I eavesdropped on that part. She was just telling Mike."

She gave me a little laugh, "Leading your own investigation, aren't ya?" She smirked.

I felt the tips of my ears turn red. "No, I was just passing." I said, super flustered.

"Yeah, _sure, okay Ben, I believe you_." She said sarcastically. Erica smirked at me, "You obviously like her. You're jealous that she's into Mike. It's pathetic, actually."

Ouch. That hurt. I am maybe a little jealous of Mike but again, despite all of this, I can't help have small feelings for Erica. Even when I thought I liked Audrey, I knew in the back of my head, I still liked Erica.

"Whatever. Um… so… did you get caught?"

"No, Ben, or I'd be in prison."

But this made sense why Erica had the folder. I wasn't entirely sure if it was the same folder, but now I have confirmation.

"Oh yeah, haha I knew that." I said, though I didn't, "Wait do did anyone come for the folder after you?"

Erica nodded, "I wasn't sure, but your buddy Mike confirmed it. A day after I took it, Mike and Zoe came to my room." I wasn't going to let her know I was spying on Zoe and Mike again. That would be even more embarrassing.

She continued, "They were saying how Mike, who's room is above a storage shed, say Audrey exiting it in the middle of the night. I knew right then that she was sent to extract it. They asked me to investigate but-"

"Why didn't you?!" I demanded, "You could have caught her on a security camera and busted her!"

Erica gave me a cold stare, "It's no wonder no one lets you in on the planning. You have to think ahead, Ben. Number one, Audrey's not dumb enough to get caught on a camera. I already checked. Number two, what would happen if I do turn her in and there's enough evidence to get her caught?"

"You'd get the credit you deserve and she wouldn't spy on us anymore? I don't see the problem with that." I replied snarkily.

She gave me a hard, disappointed stare, "Okay, so what happens when they question her? They obviously will. She'll say she was looking for a SPYDER folder. The CIA will then look for the folder and realize it's not there. Audrey clearly doesn't have it so they'll go on a rampage looking for it. They'll find out I have it eventually and I'm going to be convicted as well. See why I can't do that?"

I hung my head, embarrassed that I didn't think of this. I just nodded.

"I never looked into it. That storage shed, as you know, leads to a maze of tunnels, but one leads to a room very close to the principal's office. It was evident Audrey was looking for it. But she never found it, but I guess never told anyone at SPYDER."

"Yeah she didn't."

Erica looked at me in surprise, "How do you know that for sure?"

I grinned in the inside, happy I know something Erica doesn't. This doesn't happen often, so I have to treasure the moment.

"When she was kidnapping me, I pretended to be unconscious but I heard a guard getting uptight that she didn't have it. She waved it off but she never told anyone."

Erica nodded, "Makes sense. I suspected this because I once was snooping in her room and found a note that I guess you found as well. It was about good job finding the folder Hale or whatever. I swiped it so she didn't know SPYDER thought she had it, then she'd know someone else stole it and blame me."

"Will you explain to me the whole 'Hale' thing?" I plea desperately, "Did you know from the start?"

"I did have some suspicions, since her nose shape is just like Alexander's but nothing solid. I thought I was going crazy because that'd be a wild coincidence. When I saw that, I knew for a fact she was my half-sister."

"What'd you think?" I ask softly. It would be crazy if I figured I had a long lost sibling and they happened to be an enemy agent. Plus Erica probably knee one of her parents had an affair, likely Alexander. To make matters worse, her own father didn't tell her.

"It made sense. But I was surprised." Erica stated simply. I knew I shouldn't pry into the subject.

I desperately tried to change the subject so she didn't get all quiet with me. I was shocked that she was opening up so much with me.

"Zoe and Mike kept telling me to be careful with you and Audrey. I guess I was blinded by the beauty I couldn't think straight." I cringed. Clearly, I couldn't think now either. Did those words really come out of my mouth? Did I admit I had a crush on both of them?

But Erica just smirked amusingly, "You think I'm hot?"

I felt my face turn tomato red and I didn't say anything.

She laughed, "No, it's okay Ben, I'm flattered." I could hear the sarcasm underlining the sentence.

Erica noticed my discomfort, so she continued explaining everything to me, "I'm not surprised they thought I was being suspicious. I was. I probably looked like a double agent too. Heck, I still look like a double agent. But I'm not. I promise."

I believed her.

"Once I figured out you knew, I knew I had to flee. To keep the folder on my desk was risky but what would look more suspicious: a folder on my desk or a folder hidden in my floor board? I had left for a quick bathroom break whole examining the note and I guess you snuck in during that five minute window. I didn't hide the note, thinking no one would enter. I knew it was time to flee anyway. I was waiting awhile and I came to this Air Force base to be a 'top interrogator' and become a double agent. Murray was helping me out on this end since I released Audrey was a spy. Oh that reminds me: don't go in my room ever again or I'll hurt you."

"You did. You knocked me out. That looked suspicious on my end. Everyone was wondering why I was there in the first place. All I needed was help on the essay Cerny assigned to me. When you went all scary, I thought Zoe's warnings were right."

"I was trying to warn you too. Remember when you got moved next to me? I was avoiding school for awhile for research but I needed to warn you without about how dangerous Audrey was without incriminating her. You guys were getting close and I was worried she was going to use you."

"Right." I snapped, "Because that's your job, right?"

She looked a bit hurt for a second, but gave me an icy stare, "I do what's best for this country. Audrey was trying to manipulate you. If you can't handle seeing the bigger picture for everyone, not just yourself, you shouldn't be a spy. I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. I'm sorry, but not sorry. This is for the good of the United States, not what's best for Ben Ripley's world."

It was my turn to be hurt but I lashed out, "I am trying to do what's best too! But I'm tired of you making me the crucial part and not telling me! I'm sick of It! This isn't the Erica show! We can't all cater to your every whim."

I knew it was treading on thin ice with the Ice Queen, seeing I was still handcuffed to the chair. I was at her mercy but I wanted to get that off my chest.

She gave me a cold, hard look that dropped the temperature in this room ten degrees.

"Think what you want Ben." She snapped, "You're here now. Too bad, so sad. Suck it up. We've been to long anyway. They're going to suspect something. Oh and you can't tell anyone about this conversation or I will kill you very slowly. You understand?" She snarled at me, obviously annoyed and mad.

"I understand." I mutter under my breath.

"Good." She stood up and something registered in my mind I hadn't thought of asking.

"So Murray knows?" I ask quietly.

She heard it though, "Yeah he knows. He also knows that SPYDER won't last long and I told him he'd be well imburst with the CIA if this works. I have no clue if he actually will be, but this is as best as he can get or he'll end up in jail with the rest of SPYDER."

"Why aren't your wearing perfume? Didn't Joshua Hallal or someone notice your smell?"

"I do normally but I wanted you to recognize me. Plus, no one really met me or had enough time to smell me before they were knocked out. And Joshua is out of town."

Curiously got the better of me, "Where to?"

"Apparently some business trip to Sankibali to meet King Tablin. Violent ruler so I'm not surprised Joshua is going there. I don't really care, they're a minor country with a low economy."

That country rang a bell, but I couldn't tell from where.

Erica came around from the table to uncuff me.

"Sorry Ben since this was supposed to be an interrogation, I have to make it look like I tortured-" I cut her off with a look of shock and horror.

"What? Why do you have your I-figured-out-their-plan look on?" Erica's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "I don't even think they are plotting something."

"Oh they are." I said sadly, "And I think I know what it is."


	14. Thermonuclear Weapons

**Hi everyone! FINALS WEEK IS OVER! THE SEMESTER IS OVER!!! THIS CALLS FOR A CELEBRATION! Called an update. :)** **Thank you soooooo much for all the love and support I've gotten in this story. I truly love all of your reviews, favorites and follows. You guys make my day. Anyway sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger! I hope this satisfies your curiosity.**

Erica turns and stops midway towards the door. Her eyes went wide in shock.

"What is it?" At my pause, she says, "This isn't a movie. We can't have dramatic pauses! What, are you waiting for some background music?"

I ignored her comment. My mind was racing a mile a minute. I had to get some information first before I make wild assumptions.

"Wait, when's Joshua getting back?" I asked hurriedly.

"Sometime tomorrow I think." She said cautiously, "Why? What does that have to do with it?"

"He's in Sankibali, right? With King Tablin?"

"Yes…? Ben, what is it?!" Erica growled in frustration.

"Okay," I knew we didn't have much time, so I tried to explain everything I knew as quickly as possible, "I was in the media center a while ago and on the news, there was something about a country, Zoombiaz, getting in the United Nations while Sankibali was mad because they've been begging for the chance to join them but denied every time. I forgot about it until you said Joshua was doing business in Sankibali, presumably for King Tablin to pay SPYDER to get back at Zoombiaz. That's my guess. How, I don't know. But when you said Sankibali, it registered in my head."

Erica paused to wait for more information but realized there wasn't any. Yes, I know it is a hunch, but it's too coincidental. As Cyrus said, there's no such thing as a coincidence.

"That's it? That's all of your evidence? Joshua happens to go to some place that was on the news? Come'on Ben, even you know that's not enough evidence."

"Yes, I know how it looks but it can't be a coincidence."

"But what does it have to do with you and Audrey and spy school then? It must connect somehow. If what you're saying is true, wouldn't Audrey play a part in it as a mole?"

"I don't know. I can't remember Audrey asking me to do something completely out of the ordinary. Except…" I trailed off, recalling something.

"Erica, what do you know about thermonuclear bombs?"

She gave me a confused look.

I remembered one thing Audrey asked me to do while we were in Spy School. She asked me for help on her homework from Geasiln. That wasn't too extraordinary since practically everyone at the school wants my help at some point but this homework was weird. It looked like it was printed from a home computer and didn't sound like any homework I'd seen before. It also was too repetitive, since a thermonuclear bomb was in it everytime, which doesn't make for good homework if you only have to change a few variables. I fear that I had just done SPYDER's dirty work- again.

I mentally scolded myself. First at evil spy school I did calculations for SPYDER and now, with the same trick, Audrey got me to do SPYDER's trajectories. I knew something looked suspicious about It!

"Um… why? Thermonuclear bombs are normally dropped in battle fields but only trigger when a heat source, mainly body heat, is detected. That's what makes them so lethal. But thermonuclear missiles however use body heat or clumps of energy as a homing device to find it's precise location to land. You insert rough coordinates but it is specifically designed to kill people so it uses heat to decide exactly where to strike. Most militaries have them but they only use them in dire situations. They're cruel weapons and crazy expensive. They're not too cost effective either. It's a one use thing and they cost about the price of eight or so normal missiles or bombs. If you think SPYDER is using them, think again. SPYDER wouldn't risk them missing or them not working for the price of one. They don't take calculated risks. Too many things could go wrong. And plus, I don't think them have the money for that."

"Unless a government, Sankibali, is funding them." I add.

Erica gives me a dubious look, but agrees, "I guess. Why do you ask?"

I told her about the homework I did for Audrey.

"Yep, you got manipulated. I'm in her class with Geaslin. Mrs. Geaslin doesn't love her but definitely never gave her extra homework. She won't even give Greg Hauser extra homework and she hates him with every bone in her tiny body."

Darn, I was holding on to a sliver of hope I'm not going to be the cause of a thermonuclear disaster.

Erica noticed my look of disappointment and tried to comfort me.

"Look, Ben, it's not your fault. Audrey and SPYDER burned us again. You had no idea. But we need a plan to take down SPYDER. If your guess is correct, thermonuclear bombs aren't pretty. But I don't think Joshua is back until tomorrow, so we have time to plan something. I think we should-"

Erica's statement was cut off by Murray bursting in the room looking frazzled and nervous. His face was stick with cold sweat.

"Scarlett," Murray exhaled, giving Erica a pointed look, "Joshua is back early. He's in the building, now! You have to get out."

Erica's undercover name must have been Scarlett and since the door was slightly open, she resumed her British accent.

"How much time do we have left?"

"I don't know. I overheard a guard saying his plane just landed. You have to go." Murray gave me a look and turned his attention back to Erica.

She turned to me, "I'll do what I can from a distance, but it's going to be up to you and we probably won't be able to communicate. Do what you can and just use common sense. We have no idea when this is going down so you'll be the best bet from the inside. I'll try to be in touch. You got this Ben." With that, she rushed out of the door with Murray hot on her heels.

XXX

And I sat. Still in my handcuffs to remind you. Forever. And I was hungry. I wanted to get out of the room. And if I could guess what time it was, it was about two hours after Joshua apparently landed and two hours since Erica left me. Alone. Tied to a chair. With nothing but ceiling mold to keep me company. Hungry. It was beginning to become Hangry. Did they forget about me? Normally if bad guys forget about you, it's a good thing. Not if you're tied to a chair with nowhere to go. And when you're hangry.

I was starting to lose my mind a little bit and my legs were killing me from sitting for so long. But finally, finally the door opened. I didn't care if it was my worst nightmare, as long as it could get me out of the chair and to the can. I had to pee now too.

My worst nightmare wasn't far from it. It was none only than Joshua Hallal himself.

"Ben Ripley! It is always a pleasure to see you. Though I'm not surprised. You just can't seem to get out of our business." Joshua strode into the room, polished hook and leg gleaming in the harsh light.

He looked even more handsome than I last saw him. He had a square jawline, shining white teeth, gigantic muscles, perfectly tanned skin, no pimples and styled hair (with a gallon of hair gel of course). The only thing evil looking was his eyes. They were cold and merciless.

"Not on purpose." I retort.

He raised a smug eyebrow, "Then you must have really bad luck, hmm?"

"You can say that again." I mumbled.

He gave this charming laugh that was super out of place in this situation.

"So, what's been going on with you?" he asked casually.

"Other than another mole manipulating me into doing SPYDER's dirty work AGAIN, nothing much." I growl.

Joshua looked really pleased with himself, "Well, you should learn from your mistakes. But you can't seem to do that."

"So I should never make a new friend at spy school because they might be a spy?" I reply sarcastically.

"Bingo! If you want to be smart. But I'm perfectly content with you being an idiot every time because it makes our plans go so smoothly and easily. Especially with hot women. You seem to like that type."

"You too." I can't help replying.

He gave that concerning laugh again. He was way too happy, "I guess you're right. I mean, your mole friend is my girlfriend."

I can't contain my shock, "You're dating Audrey?!"

"Yep. Proud of it too. She's hot as hell. I can't wait to see her again. I was away for business for awhile and she was at the school."

"So you're into Hales huh?" I snap.

He gave a fake look of guilt, "So you know the sister thing? I knew you would. Yeah it is weird I was into Erica and now Audrey but they're only half sisters. Like I care anyway. Erica was boring and I was desperate back then. I haven't seen Erica in forever and I don't want too. She's got too big of an ego. Audrey's interesting. Erica was smoking hot and there's he only thing going for her. Her personality is nonexistent."

I have gotten to know Erica better after the time we've known each other and she actually does have a great personality and feelings under that tough exterior. But no way I was telling Joshua that. I'm interested that he's opening up about his love life, but it's awfully suspicious.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked cautiously.

He smirked, "I wanted to let you know you can go after Erica and not worry about her liking me. I have zero feelings for her now. She still thinks there's a spark, but it's not there."

"You're right. The spark died when you betrayed her." I snarl in Erica's defense. I also hope she's okay and got out safely. Joshua hasn't said anything about it so I'm guessing he didn't catch them.

He struggled, not concerned, "Whatever."

I needed him to keep talking. This is stalling whatever evil plan he is cooking up.

"I thought relationships were liabilities."

Joshua smiled, "For spies it is dangerous. But really only serious relationships. Little flings aren't dangerous. Erica could never grasp that concept. She was hell bent that I would he used against her or something. See what I'm saying? Erica's too wound up and serious. Let loose women. Plus Audrey and I both know we'd let the other die if the success of the mission rests on it. No gutsy moves with saving the other. Just a fling. Some teenage fun. You should try it sometime."

"Erica would probably beat me up. " I admit.

"You're right. We're into strong, dominant women aren't we? But strong women need a strong man. You might wanna work on that."

"Haha," I barked a fake laugh, "so I'm guessing you didn't come all the way out to me to make small talk."

Joshua snapped with his good hand. "You're correct again."

After he snapped, a fleet of about five men rushed into the interrogation room with machine guns and murderous expressions. They all grabbed at me. One slapped a hand over my mouth while another attempted to gag and a put a bag over my head. Two more untied me and pushed me up and grabbed my forearms. The other finished securing the bag over my head while the last dug the barrel of his gun in my back.

Joshua's voice came from outside of the room. "Gentleman, follow me."

And between the guards, I was marched towards an unknown room.

XXX

When we, I guess, arrived, I was shoved back down and tied to yet another chair. What is with SPYDER and their chairs?

When I was secured, the bag was ripped off.

At first it looked like a NASA control room. A giant screen with a bunch of tech nerds (not looking evil one bit with their vintage video game shirts) sitting at their computers typing in commands. Towards the back where I was, I saw Joshua talking to this man who I, at first, suspected to be Mr. E, but realized was just another techie. It seemed that Joshua was the only SPYDER member I recognized as in charge until Audrey strolled into the room. She locked eyes with Joshua and walked forward and gave him a passionate hug. It would be cute if they weren't planning to cause chaos and mayhem on a potentially global scale.

The whole time I was here, I was trying to grasp what the plan was. The gigantic screen was black and the techie's computer screens were too small and the numbers were flying by too fast for even my mathy brain to comprehend and commit to memory. It looked like a rocket launch if I didn't know any better.

I'm guessing they're using a plane to drop the thermonuclear bombs by the choice of an Air Force base and the homework. Where, I'm guessing (if they're working with Sankibali) Zoombiaz to get revenge on not letting them in the UN. But I was in the dark. Physically and literally. All I could do was watch.

I looked over and saw Joshua give Audrey a peck on the cheek. Gross. Then Joshua handed Audrey a paper and gestured to a computer. I recognized the paper. It was the homework assignment I helped Audrey on.

My guilt skyrocketed. Not only am I helplessly watching from the sidelines, I helped and is part of the problem. And I can't do anything to stop it. Because I'm tied to a, you guessed it, a chair.

Audrey was looking at the homework and inserting numbers into the computer, presumably the coordinates because I worked everything out for them. The trajectories, wind factor, airplane position, weight, location; everything. This is basically my fault.

After a lot a prep, I sat quietly. I knew why Joshua wanted me to watch. To punish me. To show me what I did. Because he knows I will feel an overwhelming amount of regret.

"The operation is a go in t minus 10 seconds." A loudspeaker crackled to life, "I repeat, operation is okay to go in ten seconds. Let's light this up!"

The crowd of techies cheered. I don't know if they know they're working for the bad guys. It doesn't seem like they know.

The lights dim and the giant screen glows brightly with the countdown.

"Ten… nine…" the techies shout.

I steal a glance at Joshua and Audrey. Joshua is holding Audrey close to his body in a protectful hug. Audrey is smiling but you can tell she's not enjoying it as much as Joshua seems to be.

She glances over in my direction and our eyes lock for half a second. An embarrassed look crosses her face for a second and to my surprise, quickly pulls out of Joshua's embrace. She muttered what seemed to be an apology and Joshua nods but doesn't look happy. She sneaks one more look at me as the clock nears the end of the countdown.

But something registered to me way too late. Why would SPYDER need a countdown if they were merely flying a plane?

 **Ugh! Yes another cliffy. But honestly, were you surprised? Nope. Cuz I'm a bully! :)**


	15. Fatal Mistake

**I've run out of excuses. :) Valentines day passed! I hope you told your loved ones that you love them! A like and comment would be a great thing to give me… LOL ;)** **Oh, and I need to tell a story. So I was on vacation and went to this cute bookstore. I went up to the desk and asked the women working there if she had an advanced readers copies (books that publishers release before the actual book comes out-I was looking for spy school British Invasion.) To my surprise and joy, she said yes and pulled out a box full of them!! And get this: THEY HAD SSBI!! I was so happy and I asked if I could have it (they aren't allowed to sell then because they haven't been officially released).** **She said 'sure!' but then asked what school I went to. Since I was on vacation, it was in another state.** **Then she told me she couldn't give it to me because of some school district agreement and some other excuse. Like she needed it back or couldn't lend it to me because of some school thingy.** **Bottom line: I COULDN'T READ IT!! :( I was so bummed out. There was a part of me that wanted to grab it and run but with every ounce of self control I had I refrained.** **But if you live in the state of Washington PM me and I'll tell you what bookstore and town it was in so you can read it. But darn, I was so disappointed.** **Anyway, sorry for ranting to you guys. I'm so sorry for the long wait but please enjoy. :D**

"Lift off!" The techies cry in joy as they hugged each other.

I sat in horror, watching the scene in front of me unfold. I was right. It wasn't an airplane. It was missiles. And they were heading for land.

On the screen, we could see the flight path radar on the bottom and a view from a missile as four race beside it.

I could guess they were thermonuclear missiles because on a screen beside it showed the coordinates and heat signals. Since they were in the air, the only thing that registered was an occasional bird.

"We have lift off! It's on path to go to the coordinates. It's on autopilot now." the lead techie told Joshua.

"Excellent!" Joshua grinned maliciously, with a murderous gleam in his eye, "You may go now."

"What?" the techie asked in confusion, a falter in his step.

"All of the scientists in this room. Thanks for making it a smooth take off. You can go now." Joshua gave him a fake smile and waved him off. Audrey stood next to him and smirked.

"All of us? What if there's a malfunction?" the poor techie looked lost.

"Well, there shouldn't be if you did your job correctly, right?" Joshua prodded.

"Um… yes sir. We will file out." the techie said meekly.

"Perfect! Thanks for your help." Joshua smiled and the techie started rounding up all his workers.

I just sat in disdain. It was awful. The missiles were speeding towards land. They've been flying for a while, so I can imagine the destination is far away or taking a weird path. For the first time, I was praying my calculations were off.

Finally, the five missiles that were flying together separated and went a multiple different directions.

My blood was turing cold. It all hit me. It became so real to me. Those missiles were real. And they were going to kill people.

Desperately, I turned towards the only other people in the room, aside from some guards. Joshua and Audrey.

I've given up hope that Joshua would magically become a nice person and say 'Just kidding! This SPYDER thing was a giant practical joke!' That ship has sailed. So I turned to Audrey, who I knew had a little human left in her.

"Audrey, please," I pleaded, "Those missiles are real. They will kill people. I don't care how much money you're getting from this, just stop them. Is it worth a bunch of innocent lives?"

Audrey opened her mouth to respond, but Joshua beat her to it.

"It's not just some petty cash. This will roll in more cash than we've ever gotten. Plus, we didn't even have to pay for these thermonuclear whatever things. And, since we're nice guys, we set this plan in motion on a Monday morning. No one goes to work earlier than 7AM on a Monday. We did that because we sorta care about those innocent people. So there." He smirked at me and Audrey focused her attention back on the screen.

Something struck me odd about what Joshua said. According to him, this gig will pay them well. And they didn't even have to buy all the missiles. SPYDER probably didn't even think of the idea to use thermonuclear missiles. Someone much more powerful and smart must be hiring them. If so, why couldn't they just do it themselves? Working with SPYDER would guarantee some loose ends. Something very weird is going on.

But I couldn't focus on that. I had to focus on the dangerous weapons speeding toward Earth.

"Please! Audrey, come'on! Countless lives are going to be lost. Think of the children and grandparents!" I tried one last ditch effort.

"Sorry," she spoke to me for the first time, "I can't do anything about it. The coordinates are already locked in. Plus, they were your coordinates I tricked you into giving me, so if you think about it, this is mostly your fault. And," she gave a loving glance at Joshua. Yuck. "Even if I could stop it, why would I? I could be rich before I turn eighteen." Joshua gave her a proud look. Double yuck. An evil couple.

I knew there was nothing I could do. My coordinates were accurate. They were going to kill people. Giving up, I focused back on the screen. It became a five way screen; each one displaying one missile. Two of them were above the ocean. Three of them were already above land, but hanging close to the coastline. None of them started to dive yet.

I tried to locate, based on the geology, where each of them were heading. The two above water I had no clue about but one of the ones above land were heading across a lushious, green landscape.

Suddenly, I saw a sliver of a old building in the corner of the green landscape screen. The missile veered, and I saw it clearly: the great wall of China.

I couldn't bite back my gasp of surprise. Oh no. It was heading towards the beginning of the great wall.

Joshua, however, was cheering when the great wall of China came into view. He grinned then looked back at me,

"Nice calculations," he sneered at me. I just glared back at him.

SPYDER was targeting China, obviously, to hit their most popular landmark. Now I was curious where the others were headed.

Another one that was above land was in a more bare landscape. In that one, the ground suddenly became white, so somewhere in the snow. I was thinking about where places to target were in areas with snow, but almost every country experiences snow at some point, so that didn't narrow it down much. At first, I was thinking of Antarctica (snowy, duh) because they do some global-warming studies there as well as some snow experiments. But I don't think SPYDER or anyone else cared about shutting down some snow studies. There are some military bases in snowy areas like in the middle east, Siberia, Russia and even some in Iceland as well as many other countries. So I have no clue where that is headed.

Another one was passing a populated area. You could see buildings in the distance and big ones too. All of a sudden, I saw a very familiar landmark. Big Ben. England. SPYDER was targeting Great Britain.

Dread filled my body. SPYDER was planning a terrorist attack on a few big countries. The other missiles must be targeting other major countries. One country popped in my head. My home country. The United States.

I looked at the monitors for a hint if my suspicions were correct. One of them was still above water whereas another one was above rolling hills and farmlands. Farmlands could be in any country.

Farmland continued for a while and the other was still above water. The other three missiles seemed to have locked in a position but to my surprise they haven't started to dive yet. They were hovering over a spot but didn't strike yet. One was hovering over the great wall, one was hovering over Big Ben and the other was hovering over a military base in the middle of the snow (I'm guessing Russia). Waiting for a signal to strike.

The one with the farmland started to fly over civilization. It seemed like a big city and in the distance, there was a large building standing out from all of the other skyscrapers. Of course, it was the Eiffel Tower.

Lastly, I watched the other screen which was still above water. But in that one, there was land on each side of the water. This gave me a hint that this is above a river or bay of some sort. I prayed that it wasn't the U.S. but every time I pray, the opposite happens. I must be praying to the wrong god.

Naturally, it was in the US. I saw the Golden Gate Bridge come into view. I am beyond surprised anymore. I saw it coming. There was nothing I could do.

All of the missiles were now hovering above their coordinates. I was wondering how the heck the governments hadn't noticed them.

But my question was soon answered as we heard a roaring coming from two of the monitors. The US and British government sent fighter planes to shoot the missiles down.

Joshua and Audrey panicked a bit. They hurried to the phone and yelled in it for a bit. In a few seconds, a whole crew of SPYDER agents stormed inside the room.

I scoffed to myself. How did they not account for the fact that the government of their targets would try to intervene?

Everyone ignored me handcuffed to the chair. I was forced to sit and watch the chaos unfold.

Suddenly, a man walked into the room. The room was barely lit so we could see the monitors but this man had an aura of power around him. All of the talking and arguing stopped. It was so quiet, one could hear a pin drop.

The man looked around passively. He was tall and broad. I couldn't see him in the harsh light, but he seemed no older than 35.

"What's the problem here?" the man's voice was deep with some danger laced into it. It was very intimidating.

Even the SPYDER agents seemed intimidated by the man in front of them. They gave each other looks and tried to get someone to talk. After glancing at each other for a few seconds, Joshua gave up and spoke to the powerful man.

"Sir, I am so sorry to disrupt you. But we have an issue with the missiles. The government of missile 00147 and missile 00153 have sent jets and military planes to shoot them down."

The man simply raised an eyebrow, "So?"

Joshua looked uncomfortable, "We can't let them shoot them down."

"You're right, we shouldn't." The man smiled and the smile chilled me to the bone. It was freaky.

"Awaiting instructions on how to proceed, Mr. E."

MR. E??! I stiffened in shock. This man here is Mr. E?! I should have been paying more attention to him. To his voice, body, age. So I could try to identify him.

"Let's light the sky up." With that, Mr. E walked out.

"You heard him," Joshua called out, "The operation is a go. Let's blow some stuff up!"

SPYDER agents cheered and I knew Joshua just gave the kill order.

Someone activated the missiles and before I could even think, they were nosediving towards their target. And all I could do is watch.

Joshua, Audrey and the rest of the SPYDER agents looked at the missiles greedily as they sped towards their coordinates and their heat targets. People.

I just sat and hoped that the government would shoot them down. But no such luck. They were too close to land to shoot anyone down and risk hurting more people.

There was no hope.

But then, there was. At the last second, all of the missiles either turned to the left or right, veering away from the targets and completed their dive.

The thermonuclear missiles went off course and hit a random farm, into the San Francisco Bay, green hills off the great wall, a valley of snow and in some water near Big Ben. They didn't hurt anyone. It was a miracle. Maybe I did pray to the right god.

It was almost comical to watch SPYDER's faces turn from joy to confusion then anger.

"WHAT?! WHAT HAPPENED?" Joshua roared.

Audrey's eyes narrowed in anger and suspicion, "Which one of you moles did this? Turn yourself in and maybe we'll spare your life. We'll find you eventually."

"What about him?" a SPYDER agent pointed an accusing finger in my direction, finally acknowledging my presence.

"He was tied up the whole time. He couldn't really do anything. And didn't you check the coordinates Ben gave us? And didn't _you_ approve them?" Audrey glared at him. He shrunk under her gaze. I stared and did nothing.

But inside, I was having a internal celebration. The missile didn't hurt anyone and didn't hit their targets. But why?

I knew my coordinates were dead on. I tripled checked them with the word problem. With the word problem…

Then it hit me why the missiles veered off course a little bit. The original word problem said it was thermonuclear bombs. That's why it went sideways. I accounted for the wind. I originally planned for a plane to drop the bombs. The plane needs to drop it a little bit away from the targets so the bomb could blow towards it's actual target. But SPYDER made a fatal mistake. They said on the word problem that it was a thermonuclear _bomb_ , not thermonuclear missile. That makes a huge difference in calculations.

SPYDER was freaking out. But in the chaos, I noticed someone slip into the room. Mr. E. He seemed to be the only one not concerned about the mishap. In fact, he seemed happy. He gave a sly smile, looking as if he knew something everyone else didn't.

Even though the missiles didn't hurt anyone and didn't goes as planned, something was off. Why did I have a feeling that this isn't over? Why do I feel like I'm missing something here?

 **Oooh! What's going to happen? Again please let me apologize for this taking so long, but a vote and comment would be nice :) How about a prediction? Thanks so much for sticking with me!**


	16. Bad Fortune Cookie

**Honestly, is anyone surprised I was a butt and didn't update? Not me! I'm so sorry. Things got away from me and I just got so busy. But luckily, I'm in a bridge between winter and spring sports, so an update…? I'll try to get on top of it, I promise!**

 **But in better news, Stuart Gibb's other series book Lion Down came out! I haven't read it yet but I'm just 124 in line out of 4 copies.** ** _Yay._** **So don't spoil it! :)**

 **Anyway, enjoy this VERY LATE update!**

After Joshua finally calmed down, he started barking orders.

"Everyone out! OUT! This is no time to be celebrating! We have failed! Mr. Dorenboard! A quick word with me. Everyone else, OUT! Oh and someone bring that rat, Ripley, out of here! I would like to _talk_ with him later. It is his fault our calculations were off. I can't believe we did not execute properly because of our own incompetence! Oh and-" Joshua finally stopped shouting when he realized his boss was in the room, "Mr. E, I am so sorry. Let me humbly apologize for this, erm… mishap in the plan. I assure you though, our client will not be deterred. We still, um, sorta, did what they asked. But I would like to point out that this was out of my reach. It was a calculation problem or something was wrong with the missiles themselves." Joshua looked like he was sweating. He obviously feared this man. I wonder how powerful this man actually is.

Mr. E did nothing, but cock an eyebrow. "Out of your reach, hmm, Mr. Hallal? That is quite interesting, seeing that you were in charge of this whole mission and we had very important clients to attend to. I will have to make note of yet _another_ failed mission of yours. And our clients must hear about this. Or perhaps they already have. It is sure to have made nation news now. To mishap… I'm afraid that is not a big enough word. Fix your mistake, Joshua, or face the consequences. Now everyone, back to work." In one sweeping gesture, he left the room.

No one moved for a few seconds. They were all looking at Joshua expectantly, who stood looking defeated and stressed.

"You heard the man!" Joshua finally snapped, "Get back to work!"

It was like a switch was flipped. Suddenly, everyone frantically got up and started doing stuff. Some guards came to my chair, looking furious and demanded, "Get up! We're taking you to your cell."

My hands were still handcuffed to the chair, thus not being able to get up.

"I can't. I'm tied to a chair."

The guards exchanged embarrassed looks and the bigger one snapped, "Of course! We didn't mean it like that! It was a figure of speech! Wow, our tax dollars at work to poor education. Don't you know a joke, kid?"

I said nothing as they unlocked my handcuffs. But in my head, I was thinking about how dumb he is. Number one, I doubt he even pays taxes. He doesn't seem like a guy to follow the rules like that. Number two, 'Get up!' is not a figure of speech. And a joke is not any part of speech. Maybe you should worry about your own 'poor education.'

After I was unchained, I could finally move. I stretched my aching legs and the guards roughly grabbed me by my forearms. They started parading me out of the room as I heard Joshua screaming curses at Dorenboard, the SPYDER agent who blamed me for the missile failure (which is technically true, if I do say so myself.) He was in hot water with SPYDER because apparently he check my calculations and said they were correct.

I snuck a glance over my shoulder and saw Joshua screaming, Dorenboard on his knees begging, and Audrey pointing a gun right at his forehead. Audrey had this blank, merciless expression on her face that chilled me to the bone.

The guards shoved me out of the room and as we turned the corner, I heard a deafening gunshot and a pierced scream.

"Aww, crap," one of the guards mumbled under his breath, "Nelson's dead. When that pretty girl shoots, ya know she's not joking 'round."

I just shuttered and let the guards lead me away.

As the guards were shoving me down the hall, I saw a familiar face.

"Ben!" Zoe shouted as she saw me down the hallway. She wasn't flanked by guards at all. Zoe was merely getting a drink of water from a water fountain. It didn't seem like she was being treated poorly at all.

"Hey, Zoe," I reply quickly. The guards stop to let us talk since they didn't seem to care about me at all.

"Where have you been these last few days? We've all been eating and staying together. But you've been MIA this whole time! What's up?"

"SPYDER has kept me separate because I accidentally helped them with their scheme." I reply simply. I didn't want to get into those details right now.

"What?! They had a plot? What did you do? Are they defeated?" Zoe asked in panic.

"They were trying to bomb what I think was Russia, the US, England, France and China. I did the calculations but they screwed up the information they gave me. So technically I thwarted them, but didn't really do anything."

Zoe gave me a big grin, "I knew you could do it! But why? Why those specific countries? Why not, I don't know, Germany?"

I shook my head, "I have no clue. But I saw the leader of SPYDER! Mr. E! He was-" the guards cut me off by shoving me down the hall.

"That's enough conversation. Now move." But I didn't miss how Zoe's eyes widened. She mouthed, _talk to me later._

I nodded and the guards flanked me to my room.

XXX

It wasn't a room, it was a cell. There were no windows, a small bed, an ancient clock and a giant steel armored door. That was it. They shoved me in and locked the door. I could hear the locks clicking into place. There was no way I was escaping.

So I sat. I thought. And I plotted. For a looong time.

So, I, in theory, thwarted their plans. Joshua looked quite pissed at me. But Mr. E didn't seem concerned at all. Like he wanted me to thwart them. And that made no sense. They were obviously being funded by someone rich and powerful for those expensive weapons so SPYDER's client wouldn't be too happy with the fail. The only possible outcome was that Mr. E wanted Joshua to get in trouble, since it was his operation, and blame it on me. But this Mr. E didn't seem like the kind of guy who would try to set someone up. He seemed like the type to publicly shun Joshua, so I don't know anymore.

I was getting hungry. I hadn't eaten all day and I was used to eating about twenty times a day-like any growing teenage would. But it was like the universe heard me and a plate of food came sliding under my door. There was a glass of water, a stale piece of toast, leftover spaghetti (because there was all sauce and no noodles) and surprisingly, a fortune cookie.

I grabbed the tray, ignoring the fact that it might be poisoned and dug in. The spaghetti *cough sauce cough* was actually really good. It was creamy with some carrots and zucchini in it. The bread, however, was stale and seemed to be garlic bread at one time but was a few weeks past its prime. The water was, well, water. I grabbed the fortune cookie. It was kinda weird they gave me a fortune cookie since it was Italian food, but mixed cuisines have been popular lately.

I don't really like the cookie, but I always read my fortune, so I broke the cookie open. Inside was a handwritten note.

 _Meet me outside the control room you were in today. 0300. Push your door open. It should unlocked. The hallway will be abandoned._

I wouldn't trust anyone else, but the note was written in Erica's handwriting. Good. She must have stuck around since I'd last seen her. I needed to talk to someone else about my thoughts.

XXX

I didn't really get good sleep anyway. I stayed half awake the whole night, so when 0300 struck, I was ready.

About fifteen minutes before 3 AM, I heard some thuds and muffled screams. Erica. She must be taking care of the guards in front of my door. Even though I wanted to get up and find her, she must have had a good reason for 0300, so I stayed put until 0255.

I hopped out of bed and prayed that touching my door wouldn't raise an alarm. Erica came through for me and the door swung open easily.

Outside my door, there were two agents knocked unconscious with some nasty bruises on their faces. I cautiously stepped over them and snuck down the dark, empty hallway.

After a little while, I heard a noise. Alarmed, I hit the ground. I stayed absolutely still and listened more closely. It didn't sound like a person, but more like a TV.

Sneaking down the hallway on my hands and knees, I followed the sound. Finally, I found an office where the sound was coming from. Right as I got there, I realized that might have not been the best idea to go _towards_ the sound, but my curiosity got the better of me. I stayed right under the window that went into the office from the hallway, careful not to be seen.

 _A series of unfortunate events happened today at around 6:00 AM in the countries of the United States, China, Russia, England and France. My name is Sydney and his name is Clint. On this Monday morning, some thermonuclear missiles struck very popular cities in these countries including San Francisco, Beijing, Siberia, Paris and London. Officials are unsure of the motives of these attacks, but can only assume they are terrorist attacks. By who is anyone's guess. Earlier today, Clint spoke with the head of the Armed Forces, Jason Burlock, on the issue._

 _I sure did, Sydney. Burlock said, and I quote, 'These missiles are highly dangerous and very expensive pieces of weaponry. They are completely illegal for a third party to obtain in most countries and in the ones they aren't, well, I doubt anyone could afford them. Someone powerful and rich must be supplying them and that scares me.' That's right. It scares me, too, don't you think Sydney?_

 _Yes, I do Clint. The whole world is up in arms right now and there was even a surprise United Nations meeting called for Friday right here in Washington DC. The five targeted countries are some of the most major countries in the UN, so it would make sense. But as we wait until then, many countries around the globe are readying their armies and nukes, preparing to fight back. There will be more information as this story develops. This is FSNS, goodnight everyone._

That's what the TV said. I took a breath. Wow. SPYDER really caused a worldwide crisis, just like they wanted too. But right now, I needed to get out of there.

"Well done, it worked." I heard Mr. E say through the door. I stopped cold. There was no way I was going to risk moving when Mr. E was right through the door. I just hoped that they didn't hear me.

"Thank you sir," Joshua replied. Joshua! The whole thing in the control room must have been an act! They seemed to be on the same page.

"It was perfect how Ripley got the calculations wrong. A minor hiccup, but worked nonetheless. Our client is happy and now everyone else thinks we have failed. We just have to execute the final step and we will run away rich."

"Of course sir. It is brilliant."

What was happening? Was Mr. E and Joshua running a sideshow to make themselves rich? If so, why? And what was the final step? There's more to the plan? And what does the UN or those countries have to do with it?

Suddenly, I realized I didn't hear the voices anymore. And the door right next to me started to creak open.


	17. The Office (Not the TV show)

**So I thought I would have a quick update. I was like, I got this one out quickly! Then I realize it was 9 days later. Shoot.**

 **Anyway, the story is coming to a close pretty soon I think! :(**

 **Haha Alright, Enjoy!**

I froze, praying they didn't hear me. I crouched below the window looking into the office and pressed myself against the wall. The whole hallway was dark, so I was hoping they weren't very acute this night.

The door swung open slowly as if Joshua and Mr. E didn't want anyone to hear them either. It only opened a little bit, enough room for them to slip through, and they walked out and started down the hall. To my great relief, they didn't even look in my direction. In fact, they were walking the other way!

I let myself sigh in consolation when I felt a whoosh of air next to me. Alarmed, I whipped my head around to only see the door of the office slowly closing. Joshua never shut it. He just assumed it would close on it's own.

Seeing a great opportunity, I stuck my foot out and wedged it between the door and the doorframe. It stayed open and I snuck another glance at the hallway. It was super dark, but I could barely see the silhouettes of Mr. E and Joshua about to turn into another hall. It was clear for me to make my move.

I pushed myself off the ground and slipped into Mr. E's office. I quietly shut the door behind me. It was too risky to turn on the lights, but my eyes had somewhat adjusted to the darkness, so I could see my way around.

It was surprisingly… normal. There was a desk with a lamp and a monitor on it, a small couch for guests to sit on, a filing cabinet on the back wall and a few decorative plants scattered throughout the office.

I immediately went for the desk, to see what was on it. There were a few stray papers, but none labeled 'SPYDER's Secret Plans for all of Eternity' to my great disappointment. But I poked around anyway.

A lot of them were printouts of the news story that they had just caused about the nuking of the countries. It seemed like SPYDER likes to brag about their success. There was also a detailed report about the United Nations, which seemed logical because the UN was hosting a meeting about their attack in Washington DC Friday. SPYDER would probably want to do an evaluation about what the probability they'd get caught was. But what confused me the most was a printout of an email from a man in Sankibali.

Hello. It was a pleasure to meet JH this week. I enjoyed his company very much. You have done exactly what we had asked of you. Well, not exactly, but the end result is what we have wanted. We have your payment and JH told me that the final piece has arrived and your men collected it. That is truly excellent. If all goes well Friday, you two men will be very rich. Very, very rich. Let me know if there are any new developments. -RT

The email was from someone in Sankibali, according to his profile that showed up next to his name (more like his initials). I gathered that JH must be Joshua Hallal but why was he in Sankibali? I remembered Erica telling me in the interrogation Joshua was on a business trip to Sankibali meeting King Tablin. King Tablin… RT! RT is the initials of the dictator of Sankibali! Ranove Tablin!

I remember Sankibali ringing a bell in my head when Erica said it. But where could I have heard it? Suddenly, a thought struck me! When I had first heard of Sankibali, it was in a news report from the same people Joshua and Mr. E were listening to just now. Sydney and Clint. I had heard it in the media center! But what were they talking about in that old news report? Something about the UN letting another country in and Sankibali was…! I got it! I know what the final piece was! What all the news articles had to do with it! I was right! Nuking those five countries wasn't SPYDER's overall plan! That was the start of something bigger, badder and more chaotic! They were planning too…

All of a sudden, I heard Joshua's voice, right outside the office!

"Sorry, I left my phone in your office. I'll be just a second if you'd unlock the door."

I heard keys jingling in the door handle. I looked around in a panic, looking for anything or anywhere I could hide behind or in. I found nothing. Mr. E's desk was glass and all of the filing cabinets were locked. I could hide in the couch, but Joshua would spot me no matter what. There was nowhere to run.

I just grabbed something near me that could be used as a weapon. A lamp. Great. I was going to fight one of the greatest fighters I know with a lamp. Wonderful.

Joshua walked in and flipped on the light. The look on his face was almost comical in a different situation. It went from pure shock to tomato face anger.

"RIPLEY! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?" Joshua shouted at me as he pulled out his gun.

"Whoops! Haha, must have gotten lost…" I tried to talk myself out of it but it was clearly not going to work.

Joshua pointed the gun at me but I was already moving. The glass table shattered as the bullet hit it and glass rained down on us. I jumped on top of the couch when I realized that Joshua had me cornered. I couldn't go around him and there was a window behind me. To add on to the misery, Mr. E ran into the office and was trying to shoot me as well. There was nowhere to go… or was there?

I tried one last ditch effort as I dodged the incoming bullets. I used the lamp and smashed the window that let into the hallway. To my relief, it shattered like the table and I jumped through it. Without thinking, I sprinted through the hallway, having no idea where it was leading me. I heard Joshua and Mr. E shouting profanity at me as I darted through the dark hall.

I turned a corner and kept running. I guess I wasn't paying much attention because a dark silhouette was sprinting towards me. I noticed them way too late to avoid them and did the only thing I could think of: swing the lamp at them.

I used my famous fastball swing and aimed it right towards their head. Unforchinitly, the figure anticipated this and grabbed it mid-swing.

"Jesus Ben!" The figure gasped. The one voice I was hoping to hear: Erica Hale's.

I had completely forgot the whole reason I was outside my room in the first place was to meet Erica. I must have been super late and she must have heard the gunshot and come to investigate. To me, it was a miracle.

She didn't waste any time catching up. Erica started sprinting the way she came and she obviously knew where she was going. I tried with all my might to keep up with her.

"Where were you?" She snapped at me.

"I was looking for you but then saw an office light on and hid. Apparently it was Mr. E's and I went in to investigate."

"Lemme guess," she sighed, "you got caught."

"Geez!" I reply sarcastically, "What gave it away?"

She had no reply for me as a gunshot pinged over our heads. We both reflectively ducked but kept running. Joshua was yelling and swearing at us, but we couldn't hear exactly what he was saying.

"Do you have a plan?" I wheezed as the run was taking a toll on me.

She looked back for a nanosecond and shot me a look of disdain, "Of course _I_ have a plan. But did _you_ have a plan when you decided to sneak into the office?"

"Er… no." I admitted.

"Yeah, didn't think so."

We continued through the halls as I heard more footsteps, backup probably, running towards us as well.

"Where are we going?" I asked in pannik as even more soldiers are running after us.

"A car. The plan was for us to bust you out tonight. We can still catch it."

"Okay," but something struck me, "What about the others?"

"Who?" she asked.

"Mike and Zoe and everyone else SPYDER kidnapped."

"Ben, I can't worry about them. We're getting out of here."

"But we can't just leave them here!" I protested.

"Oh yes we can!" Erica snapped, "And we are!"

In front of us, a group of what I assumed to be soldiers approached us.

Erica swore under her breath.

But I recognized the run of one of them. It had more of a heightened step to it. Mike.

"Ben!" Mike cried out as my friends ran towards me. Huh, perfect time. (Probably because a certain author wanted the chapter to be over soon. :)

"Mike! You broke out!" I grinned as we ran towards each other.

"Yeah, all the guards got called for backup and Jawa had planned a way to escape the whole time. Wait… Erica?"

"Hey Mike," she breathed heavily, "We gotta get out of here! There's an emergency door in the hallway to the left. Just outside should be a car."

"And if there isn't…" Zoe asked from behind him.

"Then we're screwed," Erica finished her sentence, "Let's go."

The group with Jawa, Zoe, Mike and Chip turned around and together we ran towards the door. Chip shoved it open and a hoard of soldiers entered the hallway behind us.

"Quickly!" Jawa yelled and we all piled out of the hallway into the crisp night.

Erica knew exactly where to go and the path lead us to a non-script white van. She yanked the door open and we all entered. Just as the door was yanked shut, the driver flooded the gas.

"You guys need a ride?" Murray Hill asked with a wolfish grin as he violently yanked the steering wheel.

"Murray! You lair!" Jawa snarled as he lunged at the front seat. Erica caught him.

"Woah, not so fast. He's working with us." Erica shoved Jawa back into the seat.

"How can we trust you?" Jawa hissed suspiciously at Erica.

"She just saved our asses!" Chip retorted back.

"So, Ben," Erica said, ignoring Chip and Jawa, "Do you finally know what SPYDER's plan is?"

Mike, Jawa, Chip and Zoe's mouths swung open.

"The nuking wasn't enough?" Zoe asked in a small voice.

"No it wasn't," I replied with a shake of my head, "SPYDER is planning something much worse."

 **Anyone have any guesses? The whole case is in the story already. Comment if you think you know SPYDER's plan. Have a great day! :)**


	18. Rump Towers

**I got this out quicker than I normally do! (Not like that's saying much). I got such an overwhelming response from the last chapter! Thank you so much for sharing your ideas of the plot! Some of you hit the nail in the head, while others were a bit off, but you'll know now! Most of you got it, so maybe I should have thought of a more complex plot. :) I don't know but thanks to everyone who reviewed and read. I've been very evasive about what the actual plot is, but here you go! Please Enjoy!**

"So what?" Zoe demanded, "What? What are they planning?"

"So, I've been thinking for a while. When we figured out Audrey was a mole, ehem… when I was a mole I thought back to anything she told me or I told her. She asked me to fill in this homework sheet, which was actually the coordinates for the buildings they were planning to nuke in China, France, United Kingdom, Russia and of course, the United States. They made a fatal error, which was saying they were going to use thermonuclear bombs but they actually used missiles, which changes the velocity by a lot to account for wind resistance. That's why the nukes didn't strike their preferred locations."

"So, they shouldn't they be done? Didn't they fail?" Jawa interrupted me.

"No, it didn't matter for SPYDER. They weren't trying to directly impact those locations, but their country in a whole. And that got me thinking after the failed attempt, why those countries? There are thousands of countries and those aren't the only major players in the economic and stable world. So why China, the UK, France, the US and Russia? What would SPYDER have to do with them? Here's what I've been missing the whole time: In the news recently, the United Nations have gotten a lot of press because they welcomed Zoombiaz into their organization. Out of the sixteen rejected countries, Sankibali was the most mad. According to a news report I saw at Spy School a few weeks ago, Sankibali was asking the UN for years to join and their tyrant leader, King Tablin wasn't too happy with no. So I connected the dots. The five permanent members of the United Nations dubbed the 'Permanent Five' are, coincidentally, the US, China, Russia, the UK and France. That's definitely not a coincidence. And a bunch of things didn't add up, like how they were well funded enough to afford thermonuclear missiles."  
"You're right," Erica interjected thoughtfully, "A missile itself would be over a million dollars. A thermonuclear one? And five of them? I'd say over a billion dollars. SPYDER can't be that well funded."

"Right," I nodded, "I guessed from the start someone rich was supplying them, but it never occurred to be that'd it be a country. I thought I'd be like some Leo Shang guy. Rich, powerful, a whacko. But here's my idea: Joshua and Mr. E nuked all of those countries. They didn't care about what they hit, whether it was the targeted landmarks or some barren wasteland."

"Wait," Mike asked, "you said Mr. E and Joshua. Not SPYDER. Weren't they all part of this plan?"  
I shook my head, "I honestly don't think so. I was in the control room when the missiles hit the wrong spots. All the SPYDER agents, including Joshua, looked like the wifi went out in the entire universe. They all looked mad and dejected. I know now Joshua was acting for the rest of them, but it seemed real. All the SPYDER agents can't be acting students from Juilliard. And plus, why include them? Joshua and Mr. E would have to share the profits. They aren't the sharing type."

"You can say that again," Murray muttered from the front seat.

"Anyway, I think that the whole missile thing was a distraction from the real plan. Did anyone watch the news earlier?"  
"Um… no! Because we were captured and held as war prisoners!" Chip gave me a look.

"Right... so on the news, the UN coincidentally called an emergency UN meeting, right here in Washington DC on Friday. And something tells me something's going to happen."

"Of course!" the truth dawned on Erica, "This isn't Joshua and Mr. E's plan or idea at all! They were hired by Sankibali to do their dirty work for them. King Tablin and Sankibali just want revenge on the UN for not letting them into the organization."

"Exactly. Plus, in Mr. E's office, I saw a printout of an email from someone in Sankibali, with initials RT. Ranove Tablin. Oh!" I just remembered something, "on Mr. E's desk, there were some stray papers I thought were just boring documents. But now I recall they were the blueprint, air duct drawing and a bunch of information on some building. Rump Towers. Does anyone have a phone on them?"

"Yep, got one!" Murray said proudly as he dug around in his pocket, completely forgetting he was driving. The car swerved and lost control for a second, but Erica jumped in the front and grabbed the wheel to control it.

"Murray, you idiot!" Jawa snarled.

"But… I got the phone." Murray held it up, looking confused. Jawa just rolled his eyes.

"Rump Towers…" Erica said mindlessly as she tapped away at Murray's phone, "Ah! It so happens to be that the Rump Towers is where a certain UN meeting is taking place on Friday."

The car was quiet in shock.  
"Holy cow Ben! You were right!" Zoe said in disbelief.

XXX 

We drove. And drove well into the night. Murray started falling asleep in the driver's seat and to much of Erica's disdain, she took over. Apparently, this SPYDER's army base was in Maryland, so we decided to go to Washington DC before D-Day to try to thwart Mr. E's plan.

We decided to be four or five minutes away by car from Rump Towers so Mr. E and Joshua don't catch on to where we are. Hopefully they think we hightailed it back to Spy School.

The only thing we could pay for from the money in the glove compartment was two rooms in this fleabag motel. (You know it's awful when the rating says _2.5 stars, so why don't we round to 3!)_ We were way too tired to complain, seeing it was about four in the morning, so we checked in and retired to our rooms.

Or I wish I did. Erica had other plans for me though.  
"We can't just waste valuable time sleeping, Ben! It's Wednesday morning. We have today to plan, tomorrow to scope out the place and the go-day is Friday! Let's research a little bit and then you can sleep for a few minutes."

"A few _minutes?!"_ I exclaimed in disbelief.

"Chill. I have an idea on how they're planning to get something into Rump Towers, so then you can sleep." Erica shot me a deadly look. I shrunk under her gaze..

"What do you have in mind?" I asked.

"Well," she brought me over to this ancient computer in the back of Zoe, Erica and my room. It was as big as a microwave. The screen was curved, but not in that cool, modern way. In that Grandma's computer way.

"Normally, terrorists and bad guys try to solidify themselves in the location beforehand, so it doesn't look suspicious if something happens and you're the last one to be hired. I doubt Joshua had the time to do that, so I'm guessing whoever Joshua had to play double agent were the last or one of the last to be hired. Unfortunately, Rump Towers is huge so there might be hundreds of employees getting hired. But there is good news." The computer finally booted up and her fingers flew over the keyboard.

"Because of some new law, every hospitality company is required to be invisible to everyone. That means they are required to post everything going on in the buildings at all times. So, when they hire someone, that means it'll be posted where anyone can find it online." Erica finished. I was so glad she had done all this research. If it were up to me, I'd have to knock on Joshua's door and hope asking politely would tell me what I'd need to know.

"Okay, so it'll be on Rump Tower's website?" I asked.

"If they follow the law, yes. And they have too much at stake not too. Ah ha!" She grinned triumphantly and pointed to the pixelated screen. There was a list of all the employees and the date they were hired.

"Awesome! Let's see…" I scanned the list, but the last three people hired, as maintenance guys, were over a month ago. I defeated. I guessed that Mr. E didn't have a plan that long.

Erica, however, thought otherwise. She always got to look at the glass half full, "Mr. E and Joshua must have been planning this for a while. There's one more thing to check." She clicks away on the computer and explained everything to me.

"Sometimes, if an agent undercover, they get the job, but then they go away for a while. No need to spend so much time doing the actual job. They'd 'break a hand' or 'go to a wedding' to get out of work. That's how you can tell someone's undercover because they'd actively try to avoid work." Erica clicked on the first guy's profile who got hired last month. It was a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and smiling way too happily for the occasion of working maintenance.

"Ew. He's not an agent." I said in disgust. Erica barely looked up at me but researched for a minute to verify he's clean.

The next guy was a really old guy, but he was legit too.

But the last guy, Justin East. Erica clicked on his name and the picture of Jacob Evanstein popped on the screen.


	19. Creepy Playground

**Hello wonderful readers! I've been in Spring Break this last week which caused the update to come later. But here it is!**

 **I'd also like thank you for all the reviews! Thanks for the continued support! You guys are amazing!**

 **It's a long chapter but try to read all the way through. There's some juicy events in the end so… please enjoy!!**

"Oh my god," I whispered. Jacob Evanstein was the spy inside Rump Towers.

"What?" Erica asked.

"That's Jacob!" I said, barely able to contain my surprise.

"Who the heck is that?" She gave me a confused expression.

"Jacob Evanstein. He was a mole CIA agent. He accompanied Cyrus to my interrogation when the CIA thought I kidnapped you. He was the one of the guys who was on the intercom when you were interrogating me. Jacob was also the one Cyrus sent to deliver all of us to the soup kitchen you were supposedly in. He and Audrey have been in cahoots the whole time. But most importantly, I'm pretty sure he is Mr. E's relative."

"Wow," Erica said with a shake of her head, "My grandpa is really bad at vouching for people. So you're confident Jacob's a mole?"

"For sure," I said confidently.

"Okay let me do some research into him and I'll see what I can come up with. You can sleep during that if you want."

Those words were music to my ears. The moment my head hit the pillow, I was out cold.

XXX

I woke to the smell of bacon. My mouth watered and I sat up. Everyone was up and in my room. Jawa's hair was wet like he had just had a shower, everyone else was eating breakfast and Erica hadn't moved since I'd last seen her. I glanced at the clock and saw it was 8:45. I got a about four and a half hours of sleep.

"Morning Ben! We ordered room service!" Zoe called cheerfully.

"It's really good!" Mike mumbled through a mouth of food.

"Awesome, thanks." I grabbed a plate and filled it up. Easy conversation flowed through the room.

"Ben!" Erica called very suddenly, "I have to talk to you!"

I set my plate on the bed and joined Erica at the ancient computer.

She pointed to the screen. I had no clue what it said, all it looked like to me was numbers and letters.

I furrowed my eyebrows, "What am I looking at?"

Erica sighed, "This the inside code from the United States Federal Records website. Right now you're looking at Jacob Evanstein's page. As you can tell, it's empty. This isn't uncommon for high ranking agents in the CIA not to have anything in the site but I doubt Jacob was that highly ranked. He couldn't have been working for the CIA longer than five years since I'm guessing, by the picture, that he's, at most, twenty six. So it's quite suspicious. It's enough evidence to convince me he's a mole."

I was going to reply but Zoe snuck behind me.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Zoe asked.

Erica frowned a little bit at Zoe's sudden appearance but showed her Jacob's picture.

Zoe gasped, "That's the guy who kidnapped us in the van! He works for SPYDER! What website are you looking at?"

"Official US records. His file is empty." Erica replied.

"Oh my god! Jacob is going to help SPYDER do what they're planning as an mole inside the building!" Zoe realized.

Erica rolled her eyes, "No kidding Sherlock."

Zoe glared at her.

"So what are we going to do?" I asked.

"It's obvious," Erica smirked, "two can play that game. We're getting inside the building as well."

XXX

Murray, Mike, Chip, Jawa, Zoe and I surrounded the table and Erica.

"Here's the plan:" Erica started, "We're getting into the Rump Towers to look around for any clues about what SPYDER plans to do at the UN meeting. At this point, our best guess is that SPYDER plans to bomb the whole building with the UN leaders in it during the meeting. There's going to be super high security on the day. So if I were SPYDER, I'd plant the bomb or whatever a few days before. Last night, I figured out they're doing the super sweep of the building today. So I'm going to guess Mr. E and Joshua wants to plant the weapon after the full building sweep so most likely, they're going to put the bomb in place tomorrow. So we have today to get ready and I want to search for the bomb tomorrow. And maybe even catch them in the act of planting it to get that all out of the way. So-"

Erica was cut off by Jawa, "Wait! How does the government do a sweep of the building if it's partly a hotel? Rump Towers is a hotel as well. The government can't go through every room. And how do we know SPYDER didn't get a room and just set off the bomb from their room?"

She nodded, "That's a good point but think about it. The government can't go into people's stuff without a specific reason but they'll have bomb sniffing dogs, metal detectors, the full nine yards. So that's why SPYDER will strike the day after the full sweep. I doubt the government would expect someone to be inside the tower so they'll focus on hotel rooms. If SPYDER is smart, they'll not plant it in a room but in the basement or employee areas. And with Jacob, they have access to all of that. Plus, the conference rooms are on the second floor and the hotel rooms are from floors twenty to forty five. The rest are office spaces. If you set off a bomb in any of the hotel floors, that specific floor will explode and next the floors above will cave down. After all the top floors collapse, then it will start to come down on the lower floors, but by then, security would figure it out what's going on and I guarantee you that the UN leaders would already be out of the state. So Mr. E and Joshua would want to plant the bomb under the second floor. The first floor would be heavily guarded, since it's the entrance, but the basement or underground tunnels would be perfect."

We all nodded.

"So how are going to get inside the basement?" Mike asked, looking really lost.

"We're going undercover. I want one of us to be a delivery man, pretend guests, maintenance guys and some of us to cause chaos. Here's my idea: Chip, you pretend to be some rich guy's son who is really snobby and be really impatient to the front desk workers. Mike, you can be that annoying guest who is causing a mess and trouble in the lobby. You guys will distract the guards the front desk workers. Ben and Jawa, you be cable maintenance guys claiming to need to fix the TV from the president's suite. That should get you into the basement. In all that mayhem, I'll sneak in the basement with Ben and Jawa. Chip and Mike, once we're in, you'll stand watch and alert us if there's anything suspicious. Zoe and Murray, I want you guys to stay here and be on the coms, watching cameras and doing the research we need. How does that sound?" Erica concluded.

"Hold on!" Zoe snapped, looking pissed, "Why am I stuck with Murray? Why do I have to stay back in the room?"

Erica glared at her for challenging her, "Someone has to do it. I don't trust Murray. Who do you think should do it?" Erica's eyes held a glint of challenge for her to pick someone else and hurt their feelings. Out of everyone, I was probably most likely qualified for Zoe's job.

Zoe's eyes cast downwards, "No one. Its fine," she growled.

Erica didn't say anything but smirked smugly.

"How do you not trust me?" Murray whined, "I got you all out of trouble!"

"I thought I could trust you multiple times and you still betrayed me," I pointed out.

Murray opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"Okay, the plan sounds good," Chip said. Jawa and Mike agreed.

"Great," Erica replied, "Let's go shopping."

XXX

So we did. We stole some cash from the front desk of our awful motel. ( _It's not that bad. We're saving countless lives. I bet that is worth the three hundred we're stealing._ That was Erica's excuse.)

We got Chip a rich looking blazer and some dress cloths. For Mike, we just threw his own clothes in the dirt to make him look like a mess. Erica got herself some regular, but practical, trendy teenage clothes. And for me and Jawa, we found some old official looking cable uniform from a Goodwill. We were all prepared.

On the way back, we all grabbed some fast food at Burger Queen (and Erica got a salad. I didn't even know they sold something as healthy as a salad!) We ate it back in the room and Jawa did some final research before we were officially ready for tomorrow. The rest of us relaxed, except for Erica who was filling all the guns with ammunition.

During our second round of Uno, Jawa cursed, frowning at the computer screen.

"What?" I asked as we all crowded around him.

"I tried to find who's staying in the Presidential Suite so Chip can pretend to be his son and I realized they're locking down Rump Towers on Friday, the day of the meeting. No one is welcomed in or out. The offices are closed and the people staying in the hotel are forced to stay inside until the UN meeting is over. We won't be able to get in on the day of the meeting."

Silence overtook the room.

"Okay, new plan. Whoever has a role in the hotel, so everyone except Zoe and Murray, will need to stay the night in Rump Towers. We don't have the money to book a room and it would look suspicious if we did. I promise you that Joshua and Mr. E are monitoring who is renting a room. If a bunch of teenagers are renting an expensive room, that would tip SPYDER off and the hotel would be curious. So we'll have to find somewhere to hide and sleep the night tomorrow."

There were some grumbles but we all agreed. I bet it would be nicer than these rock hard beds anyway. After a quick dinner and preparation, we were ready for the next day. Zoe, Murray, Jawa and I were in one room and Mike, Erica and Chip were in the other because Erica insisted her own bed. We all went to sleep.

Or I tried too. Even though this isn't my first rodeo, I still get a lot of anxiety about going into a dangerous mission. There was always a part in the back of my head saying it could be my last night. Yep, comforting thoughts to try to get to sleep.

Suddenly, I felt very claustrophobic. Zoe was sleeping on this couch thing by herself and Jawa was next to me while Murray had his own bed. I felt really uncomfortable and hot. I just needed some fresh air.

Luckily, in every room, there was a tiny deck with two chairs outside. It looked out to what was once a playground and pool, but was abandoned about ten years ago. It looked kind of creepy.

But I didn't care. I carefully got out of bed and went out to the deck and sat on a chair. It was a little past midnight. The cold air felt refreshing. The only thing I could hear was my own breathing and an occasional cricket. It was very private too. Even though all the decks on this side of the motel let out to the eery playground, there were walls between each deck. So it was calm and meditative.

But the quiet was quickly disturbed by someone opening the deck door behind me. I whirled around and saw sea green eyes staring back at me.

"Oh there you are," Zoe gave a sigh in relief, "I heard a noise and suddenly you weren't there."

I gave a small smile and patted the chair next to me. Some company would be nice.

"Sorry I woke you. I just needed some fresh air." I admitted.

Zoe sat next to me and gazed out into the distance, "Yeah, some air would be nice. Are you worried about tomorrow?"

I sighed, "I always am. I've done these missions multiple times, but I still get nervous before each one."

Zoe smiled encouragingly, "You'll be great. You always are."

"Thanks," I smiled back.

"You always do _great. Every single time."_ The last part was said condescendingly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped back.

Zoe gave me a disbelieving look, "Are you kidding me? Ben, admit it, I'm a better spy than you. But Erica is making me sit in the motel doing nothing. She likes you, so she's not thinking straight. You should be in the room, not me. No offense. She just hates me."

I was taken aback. Offense taken! It might be true that Zoe is more talented but it's so rude to point it out. This wasn't the Zoe I knew.

"Excuse me?" I said in disgust, "Where is this coming from? That's so rude! Erica certainty doesn't like me. And maybe she picked me over you because I'm a team player and I go along with a plan!"

"Uh!" She snorted angrily, "You want to talk about a team player? Your girlfriend Erica is the complete opposite of a team player! Unless the plan is exactly what she wants, she gets all mad."

"Erica isn't my girlfriend! She doesn't even like me!" I snapped.

Zoe gave me a look of disdain, "You really can't be this oblivious! She likes you and that's all you have your eyes on. You ignore everyone else while falling for her. It's pathetic and sad."

Even though her words were harsh, I couldn't help but feel a little hope. Zoe admitted she thought Erica liked me. Zoe's a girl so maybe she knows this kind of stuff.

"Wait," I asked a little giddily, "She likes me?"

To my surprise, Zoe's eyes hold the look of hurt and betrayal. "You can't be this stupid. You're so oblivious. This is actually so sad. She might like you and that's you care about. I'm leaving."

"Wait, Zoe," but she got up and started to leave when we heard another deck door open next to us, in the room Erica, Mike and Chip shared.

For some reason, we didn't want to be caught outside, so Zoe froze and quietly lowered herself into the chair once again.

The person barely made any sound so I guessed it was Erica outside.

Zoe and I didn't speak. A few minutes later, their door opened again. This time, the person was much louder.

I heard Mike next to us grunt in pain as he assumedly stubbed his toe on the door frame. What was Mike and Erica doing outside by themselves?

We could hear everything going on on the other side of the wall. Zoe and I didn't dare speak for curiosity got the better of us.

Erica snorted in amusement as Mike got hurt.

"I'm glad you find my pain amusing," Mike said lightheartedly.

"What are you doing out here?" Erica said, sounding exasperated.

"I noticed you walk out so I decided to join you. I even made hot chocolate!" Mike said proudly.

I felt jealousy rise up. Mike and Erica? They had a right to talk but still… in the middle of the night with hot chocolate? I glanced at Zoe. She was looking at me with concern and pity. This wasn't good. Girls know this kind of stuff. Mike was flirting with Erica as far as I could tell. I was shaking with rage and envy.

"Hot chocolate?" Erica scoffed, "Do you know how much sugar is in that?"

"Oh well, your loss," Mike said unabashedly, "I'll drink both."

I could imagine Erica's look of disgust, "How are you not fat?"

"I work out," Mike boasted. Oh yeah, he was flirting. The worst part is that many guys flirt with Erica. But Erica wasn't totally shutting him down like most guys. Hurt flared through my body. Zoe was listening intrigued but sent me confronting and pity smiles, which didn't help.

"Whatever. You should sleep. We have a mission tomorrow."

"The same could be said for you. I'll be fine because I'll be sugar high." Mike teased.

"I don't need to sleep," Erica said coldly.

"Fine but let me finish these two hot chocolates. How do you feel about tomorrow?"

Erica exhaled, "It sounds good on paper but it never goes the way it should. I just hope we find the bomb tomorrow so we're not stressing to find it the day of the meeting."

"Yeah, I hope so too. Hey I had a question I've been meaning to ask you. What was in the folder the principal was pitching a fit over? You stole it right?" Mike asked.

"No, I didn't 'steal it'", Erica informed him, "I simply took it from the very unsafe location of the principal's desk. Audrey was looking for it. Then I stole a note from SPYDER because they thought Audrey took it. So that Audrey wouldn't look for the folder."

"So what was in it?"

"It had information on agents from SPYDER. It also had information on the new password for the US armory. All information SPYDER wanted. I'm guessing that's where they wanted to get the bombs or missiles from. I have no idea. It doesn't matter, I have it now."

"Were you going to tell the group at any point?" Mike's voice held a little bit of suspicion.

"In the morning," was all Erica said.

"Hey do you think Audrey will be there tomorrow?" Mike asked. I knew that was a touchy subject for Erica. I still had no idea what Erica thought about her sister.

"I hope not," she answered honestly, "because Ben will get distracted."

My blood ran cold.

"What do you mean?" Mike asked the question I was asking myself.

"Audrey uses her beauty to manipulate Ben. He's easily swayed by a pretty face. Take me for example. I know he has a crush on me. Ben's easily corruptible. If she shows up, she can get Ben to do whatever she wants and derail the whole mission. But she's a good spy, I'll give her that."

"Yeah because she's your sister." Mike teased.

"That's not something I'm proud of," Erica said cooly.

"You know that Ben likes you though right? He'd pick you over Audrey." Mike said. Maybe he wasn't that bad. Maybe he was looking out for me.

"I'm well aware Ben likes me. I'm just worried he'll get tricked by Audrey if she shows up." Erica snapped.

"And I think you like him," Mike admitted.

"I don't like anyone." Erica quickly replied. I deflated. I was hoping something along the lines of 'Of course I love you.'

"What a lonely life you live," I could practically see Mike's playful smile.

"Connections are a liability. You, Ben and everyone knows that."

"I know that," Mike agreed, "but I choose to ignore it. No one can life without any relationships."

"You shouldn't ignore it. It screwed Ben up multiple times. It even screwed Joshua up."

"Well I think you like Ben," Mike stated.

"I can tolerate being around him. But same with you, Jawa and a few others. So he's not special." Erica's words hurt more than I could ever describe. The girl I've been crushing on admitted there were no feelings there.

"What about Zoe? You made her stay with Murray and it seemed intentional to make her mad. I saw that smug smile." Mike pointed out. I glanced at Zoe and her eyes narrowed.

"It wasn't intentionally to make her mad. I just don't trust her completely." Erica said. Zoe looked mad. Without thinking, I grabbed her hand in comfort. She held on tight.

"Why?" Mike asked.

"Warren," Erica said simply and it made sense. Warren betrayed Spy School and Zoe and Warren were close.

"Ah," was all Mike said, "Well I think you still like Ben but you won't admit it."

Erica gave an exasperated sigh, "Stop it Mike. I definitely don't like Ben. You finished your two hot chocolates. Go inside and sleep." I heard a chair screech against the deck and the door open.

But I was heartbroken. And Zoe was mad.

"See how mean she is?" Zoe said with hate clear in her tone.

My heart felt like it broke in two, "I told you Erica didn't like me." I snarled harsher than I intended and stomped inside.

"Ben-" Zoe called after me but I ignored her. Tomorrow was going to be interesting.

 **Woah there Ben. And come on Mike, rule #1 of best friends is you don't hit on your friend's girl (or boy)!**

 **To be reminded again, this takes place between Spy School Secret Service and Spy School Goes South. That's why I didn't mention what Warren said at the end of SSGS.**

 **Also let me know what you thought of the conversation. I'm not too sure about it. I just wanted to add some tension and love stuff in there. This will resurface later. Thanks for reading such a long chapter!**


	20. Betrayal?

**I don't even bother asking for forgiveness anymore. I wanted to get this out before Spy School British Invasion comes out on the 30th so… yeah. Here it is.** **Happy (Late) Birthday ATA! You've been a loyal reader since chapter 1 and I really appriscete how you review every chapter! I hope you had a great day!** **Thanks for everyone reading and reviewing. If you haven't, why not? It's free! Lol :) Enjoy**

I woke up bitter. I was cranky and not really speaking to anyone. We ate a quick breakfast and got ready for the big day.

Everyone seemed to notice my mood but no one commented on it.

You okay? Mike mouthed to me as we were finishing up breakfast. I just gave him a cold stare. He gave me a confused one back. Traitor.

"Let's go over the plan one more time," Erica said, "Chip, you're the son of the guy in the Presidential Suite. None of the UN members are staying in the hotel for security reasons, so you're officially Richmond Washington, son of Charles Washington. You go to the desk and be really impatient and annoying to the clerk."

Chip nodded, "Can I go by Rich because the guy's rich?"

"Yeah, um…okay. Mike, you're going to be the opposite of Chip. Confused guest and just make a mess and cause chaos in the lobby. Your jobs are just to distract the people in the lobby. When the front desk is distracted, Ben and Jawa will act as cable guys and slip into the basement. I will follow you guys in the basement. Chip and Mike will act as watch from the lobby. Zoe and Murray will be in our ears from the security camera. We need to find anything suspicious today. Got it?" Erica looked at all of us in turn and we nodded, "Great then get ready."

So we did. We all got in our clothes from Goodwill. I still avoided talking to everyone. I was so not in the mood.

Finally, by 0900, we were ready to go. We were all in my room with our clothes on, radio in ear and going over final preparations.

"I'm going to go steal a car. Chip will you stand watch?" Jawa asked.

"Sure," Chip grumbled.

"I'll wait outside. Come out when you're ready. Murray, come out with me. I need to talk to you." Erica left and walked outside. Murray dutifully followed.

"I need to show Mike a blind spot in the camera he needs to watch out for. He'll be out in a minute." Zoe said. I just nodded and went outside.

Right as I stepped outside, I realized I left my prop cable box inside. I went back inside and heard hushed voices from the deck.

I snuck inside and hid out of view from the deck, but still could hear everything.

"Did you do it?" I heard Zoe whisper harshly. I widened my eyes in surprise. Why what was she doing?

"Yeah, I took care of it. How about you? " Mike replied. I could barely contain a gasp. What where Zoe and Mike talking secretly about?

"Yeah I did it. We can't fail this time. We've failed too many times to count. But luckily, no one's caught on to us. The secret's safe for now." Zoe whispered in a hurry.

"Yeah, for now. How long will we be able to pull it off?" Mike asked.

My mind was racing? The only explanation for this was that… that they were working for the bad guys. Did all of my friends betray me? I needed to hear the rest of the conversation.

"Hopefully until our plan goes into action, which will be tomorrow. Ben's gonna be so blindsided."

Did Zoe admit she's working for SPYDER?

"Yeah he is. They're going to get suspicious if I don't get out there. See you tomorrow I guess. It's annoying they're locking down the tower." I heard Mike stand up.

"Yeah but you know why," Zoe replied, "Be safe Mike."

I could practically see his charming smile, "Always am." Then I heard a sound that froze me into shock:

The sounds of lips kissing a cheek.

Did Mike just kiss Zoe?! What was going on?!

I heard Zoe giggle after that and shove Mike, saying, "Go, you idiot."

The screen door was opening so I quickly grabbed the prop box and slipped outside where everyone was.

I was debating whether to tell Erica about what I just heard or not. They didn't outright say they were working with SPYDER but they are up to something suspicious. I decided not to say anything yet but keep a watchful eye out. I was still hoping they weren't working for them. First Audrey now maybe Mike and Zoe.

I second after I came out, Mike came out and clapped his hands together.

"Ready to go?" Mike asked enthusiastically.

"Yeah, we stole two cars. Where's Zoe?" Erica asked.

"Oh I didn't know she had to come," Mike yelled inside the room, "ZOE! COME ON!"

She came outside, "Why am here?"

"Can you drive?" Chip asked.

"Of course," Zoe rolled her eyes, "It's standard for agents to know how to drive."

I didn't know how to drive. We were both only fourteen.

"Okay then let's go. Murray is driving me, Chip and Mike. Zoe, you drive Ben and Jawa." Erica pointed to two old cars.

"You trust Murray with a car?" I asked, really confused.

"Only because I attached GPS and a remote trigger explosive. If I see either of them not go straight to the motel after dropping us off, they'll go blasting off into a space explosion." Erica explained.

"Wow, Ice Queen," Zoe snarled sarcastically, "Thanks for the vote of trust. Really appreciate it."

Erica said nothing but just glared at her.

"Let's go," Jawa said before it got too awkward.

Everyone went to their respected cars.

Murray dropped Mike, Chip and Erica off first.

We followed only minutes later.

Rump Towers was huge. It was around fourty stories and tall. The entrance was magnificent with fountains, beautiful plants and art pieces. The lobby itself looked about three stories with a huge, crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The front desk had only three people. There were crowds of reporters from various news stations in front. The lobby was actually quite empty thoguh because security was holding them at bay. Security let all of us in because we looked like residents.

We all entered at staggered times, Mike first and Erica last. We all pretended not to know each other.

Jawa and I entered after Chip, who entered after Mike. We quickly went to the matitience doors, pretending we knew what we were doing.

Chip made a beeline to the front desk, where Mike was already standing.

"Hey! There were a billion people outside! It took me a second longer to get inside! What's going on desk guy?" Chip said rudely. A lot of eyes were already on him. The distraction was working.

"The United Nations is having a meeting here about the multiple terrorist attacks the other day. You seriously didn't know that? Are you a guest?" The poor desk clerk looked barely out of college.

Chip scoffed, "How dare you? My father, Charles Washington is renting out the Presidential Suite!"

The guy's face turned red, "Sorry sir! My apologizes. Each guest was supposed to notified of this meeting. I'm sorry if you didn't get the memo."

"You should be! I-" Mike chose this moment to walk in with his leaky Thai food takeout.

He frantically ran up to the desk. Everyone was watching him, "Oh my god! Do you have any napkins? This leaking!"

The desk clerk looked around quickly and ordered a guy next to him to get some napkins.

"If you get any of that on my $800 jacket, I will kill you!" Chip warned.

"I'll try not too," Mike replied.

"Don't get that on my desk! We bleached this last night!" the poor clerk looked frantic.

Chip snapped his fingers, "I remember why I was down here! Our room is dirty and our cable is broken. Can you fix this?"

The clerk gave him an incredulous expression, "I'm in the middle of something right now!"

"Yeah well I have something too! I am in the Presidential Suite!" Chip snarled impatiently.

"Hold on please!" He said desperately as he tried to not get the Thai curry on his desk.

Jawa and I took this frantic moment to cause even more chaos.

"Hi!" Jawa walked quickly over to the desk, "We're here to fix the cable in room 901. We need the keys to that door over there. Is there a custodian or some maintenance guy to unlock it for us?"

"Hey, that's my room! Yeah please fix my cable! Daddy's going to miss gold at four!" Chip slapped the desk while Mike 'accidently' spilled more curry on the floor.

The guy swore, "Stop spilling it you moron! Give me a second!"

"I don't have a second! I was told the cable is crucial for this room. It was a ASAP situation!" Jawa snapped impatiently.

"Yes it is," Chip piped up, "Daddy has to watch golf at four!"

"Give me a SECOND!" The clerk yelled, "Make sure that idiot doesn't spill anymore. I'll call maintenance."

"I'm not the help!" Chip snarled.

"Okay go sir. I'll watch him." Jawa pretended to fuss over Mike but he was smirking the whole time. I have to admit, Chip's actually a really good actor.

Finally, someone unlocked the door and Jawa and I slipped away while the clerk was still dealing with Mike and Chip. Mike looked like he was having lot of fun.

Jawa and I left a brick in the door so a second after we went into the basement Erica came down with us.

The halls were concrete with dirty LED lights in the ceiling. It might be a five star hotel but the basements are awful. So far, we didn't see anything suspicious.

We reached a three way hallway.

"Let's split up. We have to synchronize our watches and meet back here in exactly five minutes. Jawa, go right. I'll go straight and Ben go left. If you're not back in five, we'll assume you got captured."

We all nodded, synchronized the watches and went our separate ways.

I headed down my hallway and I was looking up at the ceiling when someone really quiet bumped into me. I started to mumble an apology when the person knocked me down to the ground. The person flipped me over and shoved a knee in the small of my back and pinned my arms down. Their hand pushed my face into the ground. I started to panic.

"Stop squirming. Who are you and what are you doing here down?" The person hissed in my ear.

In shock, I turned my head to confirm my suspicion. Yep, I was right. Audrey Hale.


	21. Bombs With A Side Of Betrayal

**Oh my gosh! Thank you for such a positive, wonderful response to the last chapter. All those reviews really warmed my heart! That influenced me to update very quickly so here it is! Unfortunately, I feel the story coming to a close very shortly.** **I also read Spy School British Invasion yesterday and it was pretty good. I won't say anything for spoiler reasons but it wasn't my favorite of the series but still really good. There were some plot twists in it but none of those will affect my story since I planned this out way beforehand.** **Alright, thank you for the lovely comments and please enjoy!**

I heard Audrey give a little gasp in surprise. Or that could have been my gasp.

"Ben? What are you doing here?" Audrey pushed a little harder on my back.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" I shot back. So Audrey must have been working with Joshua and Mr. E the entire time.

"Are you working with SPYDER?" She hissed at me.

"What?" I exclaimed, "Of course I'm not. But you are! That's why you're here!"

"I'm not working with SPYDER!" Audrey retorted.

"Yeah you are," I said, "Wait- I'm so confused! If you're not with SPYDER, than why are you here?"

"I'm here to stop SPYDER. I'm guessing that's why you're here?"

"Yeah, duh! Why would you stop SPYDER? You work with them!"

Audrey's eyes darted around and finally got off me. She helped me up and whispered in the empty hallway.

"SPYDER is planning to bomb the UN tomorrow for Sankibali. And when the world is in momentary chaos, Sankibali will take over. King Tablin promised Joshua and Mr. Evanstein their own country. This is a chance for SPYDER, well actually just Joshua and Evanstein, to make a ton of money and have control, while Sankibali gets the whole world in his hands along with revenge against the UN."

"How do you know? And why the heck would you try to stop them?" I asked, baffled. But I got confirmation that Jacob was Mr. E's relative of some sort. Not that that mattered right now.

"Because," Audrey explained, "We need our countries to have strong, educated leaders, instead of power hungry organizations. Unlike other people, I like the balance of power and not one group monopolizing everything. It's not about what's best for me. It's about what's best for everyone. Even I'll admit Joshua and Mr. Evanstein would be awful leaders. I know because Joshua told me of their whole plan, intending for us to be together in this new country."

"So now what?" I was happy I was right, but it was a bittersweet moment because well… I was right.

"We have to figure out where Joshua and Jacob Evanstein planted this stupid bomb." She started walking down the hallway.

"Wait!" I called, jogging to catch up with her, "Is Jacob Mr. E? And does Joshua know you're here?"

"No, he doesn't," She said, barely looking back, "And no, Jacob isn't Mr.E. He's his nephew. Jacob actually did legitimately work with the CIA until Mr. E convinced him to switch with a large bribe."

"Okay, so where do you think it is? Are you sure it's a bomb?"

"Yeah I'm sure. He told me. It's down here in the basement. He planted it early this morning. Around four or something. They're locking down the tower tomorrow. Wait why are you here?" Audrey quickly opened a door with a stolen employee card as I answered.

"To stop SPYDER. I figured out what they wanted to do after I saw what happened in the missile room and how Joshua didn't seem to care that the missile didn't hit their targets. Erica, Murray helped all of us escape."

"Oh right. The missile room," Audrey said with a hint of red creeping up her neck. In the room, that's where I found out Audrey and Joshua we're a thing. But for a second, I thought she looked a bit guilty when she glanced at me, but that was probably wishful thinking.

"Where do you think the bomb is?" I asked, trying to quickly change the subject.

"I heard Joshua's say that he and Jake planted it down in the basement so it must be around here somewhere," Audrey opened another door and peeked inside.

In these moments I completely forgot about Erica and Jawa. Getting information from Audrey was more important. I forgot to consider the fact that they might be looking for me.

"Darn, I have no idea where in the basement it could be though." Audrey swore as she opened another door with no bomb.

"Well the bomb should be large, right? Therefore needs to be in a bigger room." I pointed out.

Audrey shook her head, "Most bombs are about the size of a microwave. They can be in any of these rooms."

She opened yet another door. But when she opened this one, she ran into someone.

"Oh, sorry," she mumbled to the person walking out.

"Yeah, my fault- wait!" Suddenly, the man who ran into Audrey grabbed her wrist and wrenched it behind her back before she could react.

Audrey fought back quickly, kicking the man in the… well… area. I figured she had everything under control and I would just get in the way, so I stayed out of it.

He doubled over in pain but as he folded over, he plunged a syringe deep inside Audrey's upper arm.

She cried out and suddenly dropped like the dead. I quickly ran over to catch her and as she fell in my arms, I shot a look at the man. To my surprise-I guess not surprise-was Jacob Evanstein.

"You can't keep yourself out of trouble, can you Ripley?" Jacob sneered as he advanced at me. I let Audrey drop slowly.

I started to run, but he easily caught me by my arm.

"You dragged Audrey into this! She turned on us! She was one of the best spies my uncle ever saw. For that, You will pay." Before I could react, Jacob whacked me on the back of the head and I lost all consciousness.

XXX

I woke up with a pounding headache, wondering where I was. When my mind caught up, I realized I was tied to a chair inside of a large closet of some sort.

I heard groaning behind me so I kind of rotated so I could see Audrey looking equally groggy and dazed as I felt.

She suddenly became more awake and started looking around the room. It seemed like we were still inside Rump Towers, but in a maintenance closet. Audrey quickly started to unwork her bonds, being super proactive. She reminded me so much of Erica. Well, I guess that's because they're sisters. They're both so good at espionage, even though one half was trained by the good guys and the other half was trained by the bad guys.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," an eerie voice from in the shadows said, as an unmistakable sound of a gun clicked throughout the room.

Stepping under the light was Joshua pointing a gun right at Audrey's head. In front of me, Jacob stepped into the light and pointed a gun at my head. It actually seemed so choreographed.

Audrey snorted, "Did you guys actually practice that? Oh my god that's so sad!"

"What?" Joshua sneered, "Of course we didn't practice that! We have more important things to do; like overthrowing powerful governments." But as he said this, a hint of red creeped up his face, telling us she was right.

Audrey just fought to hide her laughter. Joshua was just getting angry.

"It doesn't matter if we rehearsed that or not! What matters for you is your life!" Just as Joshua said that, another man walked into the light.

Mr. E. It was the first time I saw Mr. E in the light. Before, I saw his build and heard his voice, but I never actually got a clear view of his face. And to be honest, I was very underwhelmed.

I was expecting an evil mastermind kind of face. A James Bond villain type of face. One maybe like Joshua's, with a giant scar down the side of his face. Instead, he looked super normal and honestly, kind of nerdy. He reminded me of my fifth grade teacher. He was tall, around six feet and looked in his early thirties. Truthfully, he didn't look at all malicious. He was wearing glasses, had a v-neck sweater on and his face was very round. He was super skinny too and wore tight jeans. He looked like he should be coding in his mom's basement rather than overthrowing the world. He looked like a librarian that worked in the library I used to work in after school. The only thing that would signify his evil intentions was that periment scowl on his face. Although the clothes might be part of a disguise, it didn't look like it. It kinda looked like he chose that this morning. I was disappointed.

"Expecting more, Ripley?" Mr. E taunted, "You were hoping for some 007 villain?"

I was, but I didn't say that, "No, just surprised that the acclaimed 'world's evilest terrorist organization' was lead by someone who looks like they play chess in the park with a dozen pigeons around him."

Audrey coughed a lot to try to cover up her giggles. It still didn't work though. Even Jacob was trying hard to smolder his grin.

Only Mr. E didn't seemed amused, "You think you're so funny, don't ya Ripley?! You won't think it's so funny when you're dead! Jacob!"

I sat fearfully, waiting for my fate. Jacob looked very conflicted.

"Wait, aren't we waiting…" Jacob reminded his uncle.

"Oh right!" Mr. E snapped with a grin on his face, "You will not get the luxury dying by gun! You will suffer even worse fate!"

"So it's just you three? You even went against your own people and organization for this plot?" Audrey spoke up.

"Yeah," Mr. E snarled, "It was going to be you too, until you betrayed us! You were one of the finest agents I've seen in awhile! You could have walked away rich! But no. You had to follow in the footsteps of your Daddy and older sister. Awww how sweet." He make it sound anything but sweet.

"I created this master plan with Mr. E and King Tablin! We make SPYDER believe the plan was simply to blow up some landmarks of the Main 5 United Nations countries. Nothing more. But instead, Jacob, Mr. E and I will bomb the United Nations meeting today and take over in the chaos. It's simply brilliant! King Tablin gets revenge, we get land, money and power and we don't have to share our riches with the rest of SPYDER! And no one will stop us." Joshua boasted. So today must be the UN meeting. I slept for an entire day! Erica and the others must be really worried for me.

"What if I stop you?" I mustered the courage to ask.

"You won't," Joshua said dismissively, "Even I can't stop it if I wanted too. Plus, you're the one who's going to take the fall."

"What time is it?" I asked.

"About 9:50 AM. The UN leaders are already here. The meeting starts at 10. That's when the big kaboom is going to happen!" Mr. E grinned sinisterly.

"Did you just say the 'the big kaboom?'" Audrey asked in disgust, "What are you-four?"

"Don't get me started on you!" Joshua exploded, "You betrayed me! I thought we were going to live happily and rich together in our own country! I trusted you! But you let me down, just like your slimeball sister. That's why you'll die with Ben. I gave you a chance; I taught you everything. But you let me down. I gave you a family. But you threw that all away."

"Okay, sure Joshua. I had a family. I have a family. And you didn't teach me anything; it's been in my blood the whole time."

Joshua gaped at her, "Excuse me? You're going to call yourself a Hale?! After you swore to kill them all? That's rich. What do you think will happen if you get away with your little plan to thwart us? It won't work; but what do you think will happen? We won't take you back or protect you. The CIA sure won't help you or your mom and uncle. You'll be put right into jail for life. We gave you a chance; You were the dumb one to try to do the right thing."

Audrey gave him a hard, dark look. If looks could kill, he'd be dead on the stop. But I saw a hint of defeat on her face. What Joshua said was probably true about the CIA. Audrey just realized it. But I promised myself that if we escape this and get back, I'd do anything I can to make sure Audrey gets proper treatment for betraying SPYDER and working for us.

"As much as this is entertaining to watch, we need to get the prisoners in the room. After the bomb is active, there is a five minute timer and the meeting starts in two minutes. It's the perfect time! Joshua, Jacob-get them in the room. I'll ready our escape." They followed Mr. E's order. Jacob unlocked me from the chair but quickly snapped the cuffs back on my wrists. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Joshua doing the same thing to Audrey.

A felt a gun press right into my back. "Move!" Jacob snarled into my ear and marched me forward.

We walked out of the closet and I realized we were in the same hallway we were knocked out in. Jacob and Joshua lead us to the room Jacob ran into Audrey yesterday. I thought about yelling for help, but decided against it because Jacob would probably just shoot me.

We went into the nondescript room. This time, it was a seemingly abandoned towel and washcloth room used by housecleaning. It didn't look like it was used in years. It smelled like mold and mildew.

Joshua flicked on the light and shoved us in there. He didn't unlock the handcuffs. All he said was, "Have fun dying!" And locked us inside. There was no keyhole for this side. The only way you could open it was from the outside.

I heard Audrey curse loudly.

"What?" I asked as I came around to see what she was looking at. On the ground was a machine about the size of a toaster oven. It had red wires snaking out of it and into another part of it with a timer, frozen on five minutes. It could only be a bomb.

When I got closer, the screen suddenly flashed saying 'Heat Sensor Activated. Body Heat Detected. Starting Five Minute Countdown In Three, Two, One…' and the bomb started counting down from five minutes.

Audrey cursed even louder, "It's a freaking thermonuclear bomb! No wonder Joshua bought one of those. It's only activated by heat, mainly body heat. And we just activated it."

We were going to get blown to bits, along with the whole UN in five minutes, and it's going to look like our faults.


	22. Last Seconds on Earth

**I'm on an update roll! I can feel that the end is near! Um… I don't have much to say but please read, review like favorite all that good stuff. Alright please enjoy! :)**

"What are we going to do, what are we going to do?" I yelled, somewhat hysterically. I was oviously panicking. This bomb is going to go off in five minutes-correction: four minutes and fiftyfive seconds. And we were locked in the room. To make it even worse, when this bomb goes off, the leaders of over one hundred and twenty countries will die too. And Joshua, Mr. E and Jacob will win.

"Well, yelling 'what are we going to do, what are we going to do' isn't helping!" Audrey snapped at me. She kept banging on the locked door, praying someone would hear us. The door only locks from the outside, so normally Audrey could pick the lock, but Joshua specially picked this room for that reason.

"Then how do we stop it?" I snapped back.

She gave me a look, "It'll only stop if it doesn't register the heat anymore. Which is impossible because we're stuck in here. The wires are over an inch thick so we can't just snip them. And we can't override the system because it is digitally set up from a whole different location and computer."

"So let's just make our body temperature lower so the bomb doesn't register it anymore." I suggested.

Audrey looked at me in pure exasperation, "Let me know when you master shape-shifting and can change into a cold blooded animal. Then we can talk."

"You don't need to be so sarcastic! I'm trying to help!"

"Yeah well you're not being very helpful when you suggest idiotic ideas. I thought you did this before! Didn't Murray lock you with a bomb in Spy School?" Audrey pointed out.

"That was totally different! It was with a hastily put together bomb, not a multi-million dollar military machine! To stop that one, I whacked the clock and the countdown just stopped. Hey, why don't we try that with this one?" I advanced forward, ready to smack the bomb, but Audrey quickly intervened and grabbed my arm.

"How stupid can you be? Like you said, these cost millions of dollars to make. They're not going to be so stupid and let smacking it break it. If you hit it, it will just go off earlier!"

"Then let's not hit it," I agreed.

"Ya think?" Audrey snarled.

I ignored her sarcasm and looked around the room. It was about the size of my room at home, so fairly large. It was full of towels, washcloths, soap and laundry machines. There were some boxes, too, that were mostly empty. An idea formed in my head.

"What if we hopped in a box and stuffed it with enough towel insulation that the bomb doesn't recognize our body heat?" I suggested.

Audrey looked at me with a sad smile and shook her head, "That's a good thought, but it won't work. You've never heard about these bombs have you? The temperature has to be below freezing temepture for them to stop. So no matter where we hide or anything, the bomb will still go off."

We ran out of ideas fast. And the clock was still ticking down. Two minutes and fourty eight seconds. Two minutes and fourty seven seconds. We were just forced to watch the clock.

"Okay," Audrey said suddenly, "It's time to stop playing hero. We have to find a way out of here and fast. Even if we are gone, the bomb is already triggered so it will still explode. Again, the temepture has to be below freezing so that's the only possible way to stop it. Even if we're not in the room it will go off. Lets move some of these boxes and try to find a vent or something to get out. Laundry machines normally need a way to release it's smoke right? We have to get out of here; screw the UN."

I didn't like the way we were bailing, but I really did want to live. I'm only fourteen; a have a lot to live for. We started shuffling boxes away. There were a ton of them too. We moved them, searched around, but we couldn't find a way out. There was only sixty seconds left.

"If we don't get out of here, I want to tell you this," Audrey said, surprising me as we were moving stuff around, "I never wanted to be evil and join SPYDER. I did it because my mom and uncle were poor and that was one less mouth to feed. Plus, SPYDER gave my mom monthly payments for my work. And I don't hate you Ben, or even my sister (even though she is as nice as the boxes and as an emotional range of the washcloths) but I did what was best for my family after my dad left my mom before she knew she was pregnant. I never believed or supported SPYDER's plots and their intentions. I just went along with them. But now that I see what being a good guy is like, I want to stay this way."

I was truly moved my her words. She still could be manipulating me, but I didn't see the point in that. We were about to die in fourty three seconds anyway. It felt real as well. For the first time, I saw her as the fifteen year old girl she was. She is almost sixteen. I didn't see her as a beautiful, talented, deadly and perfect spy machine I saw her as all this time. I finally saw her as a teenage girl just trying to help her family.

But now was most definitely not the time to ponder that. Right now, my primary objective was to get out of here alive and Audrey was already speaking like it was a lost cause.

I shuffled even more boxes around to where I finally reached the wall.

"Ben," Audrey called out, "We won't have enough time. We have thirty eight seconds until this thing blows. We just have to brace for impact." She sounded like those airplane safety talks.

But suddenly, I saw something that gave me a glimmer of hope.

"Audrey! Come here!" I yelled hurriedly. She looked confused but came over to where I was.

Mounted on the wall was a manually controlled thermostat.

"So what?" She asked, really puzzled.

"What happens if we, instead of lowering the temptures of our body, which is impossible as you pointed out, we lower the temepture of the room? To below freezing? Would that still stop the bomb?"

Audrey thought of that for a second, "It could, as long as the temepture drops fast. It's worth a shot. There's only twenty nine seconds left."

So I grabbed the dial and cranked it all the way down to twenty two degrees Fahrenheit. I hoped that would speed up the process of the room temepture getting below thirty two degrees Fahrenheit or freezing temepture.

We could already feel the difference. It got cold-and fast. We stuffed towels under the crack of the door to make sure all of the cold air stayed in the room. It started to get so cold, I could hardly stand. All I was wearing was a goodwill mantiemce collared shirt and jeans. Audrey wasn't much better. She was in workout leggings and a t-shirt.

We wrapped towels all around us. It was almost below freezing. It got so cold, we sat down really close together and draped a towel over our legs. We tried to use each other's body heat and to conserve our own, but it didn't feel like it was working.

At that moment, I was hyper-aware of how close we were sitting together. Audrey seemed unconcerned, as she was focusing on our potentially last seconds on earth, but I was thinking how close I was to a pretty girl. I hoped I didn't smell too bad.

The clock read sixteen seconds.

"This better work," Audrey said through her shivers. Her lips were turning blue and I bet mine won't any better. I didn't reply.

"Your lips are blue," Audrey commented at fifteen seconds. I just nodded.

And suddenly, her face came closer to mine. And I could feel my myself getting drawn to her. I leaned in as well, not thinking too much. Our lips brushed and I could feel my face getting hot, despite the almost freezing temepture.

"I'll help you warm them up," she breathed, almost right against my cheek. I only had ten seconds to live, so I took initiative. I moved my head, and all of a sudden, I pressed my probably chapped lips against her soft, full ones. We were kissing.

I felt her sharp intake of breath against my teeth. She pushed even more foward and kissed back passionately. Not a bad way to spend our last eight seconds on Earth. I wanted it and so did she.

We were still kissing at three seconds left when we heard a beep. We pulled away from each other; Audrey blushing and my face hot as can be.

We both looked at the bomb. The screen flashed with 'No Heat Detected. Sensor Inactive. Going Back To Sleep Mode.' I glanced at the thermometer. It was thirty degrees! It was below freezing! So did it...work? Were we alive?

The screen on the thermonuclear bombs changed yet again. Back to the countdown with only three seconds left.

I sighed in defeat. It must have not worked. We were actually doing to die.

I felt Audrey grab me by my head and yank me against her lips yet again.

"Don't worry about it," she mumbled against my cracked lips.

Audrey kept kissing me and I wasn't protesting. I felt like I was betraying Erica, since she was my first kiss and technically my crush, but I was going to die and she would never figure it out.

Our lips remained together when the clock reached one second.

At one second, out of nowhere, the door to the storage room swung open. We had no time to react. Because I was facing the door and Audrey was facing away, I had a clear view of the person in the doorway. Aware that I was still making out with Audrey, I saw Erica Hale standing in the doorway, eyes full of hurt and surprise.

 **I'm not a romantic writer at ALL (You can probably tell; I said lips a billion times lol) but that part got away from me a little bit. Let me know what you think about Audrey and Ben's "hot moments". We're in the home stretch now.** **Until next time. :)**


	23. Duke It Out

**You people are amazing! I love to hear and see your thoughts and reactions to the story!! And the drama ensues. Please enjoy!**

I pulled away from Audrey as quick as I could. Seriously. I just shoved her away.

"Wha-" Audrey turned towards me and saw Erica in the doorway. Her face turned sheet white.

Erica wasn't paying attention to us right at the moment. Because, oh right, we were locked in a room with a ticking bomb.

We all turned towards the bomb, despite the elephant in the room.

One second… zero. I subconsciously flinched and I saw Audrey do the same. I waited for something to happen. Anything to happen. A bomb exploding was expected. But nothing came.

A message flashed on the screen of the bomb. 'FAILURE TO EXPLODE. No Body Heat Detected.' And the screen turned dark, shutting the bomb off.

I gave an audible sigh of relief and next to me, still under the blanket, I heard Audrey do the same. One threat that seemed major just passed but now a bigger problem presented ourselves.

In my peripherals, I saw Audrey's face turn from sheet white to red. I felt my face heating up as well. The situation just became super real: Erica walked in on us having a long, passionate kiss.

I had the nerve to glance back at Erica. She was staring at me with a look that dropped the temperature in the room even more, probably into the negatives. Erica looked at me with utter contempt and betrayal.

Without a word, she turned on her heels and marched right back out into the hallway, slamming the door behind her.

Audrey and I looked at each other in panic and scrambled to our feet. We were both actively trying not to think of what just happened.

I prayed that the door didn't lock behind Erica. The room was quickly becoming lethal from the cold. My whole body was shaking in the frigid air and my legs could barely make it to the door.

I finally reached the doorhande and gripped it so hard my knuckles were turning white.

"Wh-what should we do with the b-bomb?" I asked through my shivers.

Audrey shook her head, "J-just leave it. The government will f-find it eventually. We don't want to in-incriminate ourselves by putting our fingerprints on it."

All I did was nod and open the door. I stepped out into the hallway and I could feel the difference. The hallway was only room temperature, but it felt like a warm bath. The air immediately heated my body up, so I could finally feel my toes. I may have had temporary hypothermia or frostbite.

"Ahh. So warm," Audrey gave one last shiver and quickly shut the door to the freezer room.

Now that I was somewhat warm, I scanned the area, hoping for a glimpse of Erica. She obviously got in without being seen so I hoped she could help us get out. But by the state of her fury, her help might not be coming.

I saw her disappear around the corner, deeper into the hallway. Without thinking, I started to run after her. Audrey followed me.

We rounded the corner and saw Erica go into a closet, then disappear, as if she went down some stairs. Was there another layer of the hotel? A secret maze of hallways?

Audrey and I approached the room. We swung the door open and saw a grate that lead down some stairs. We heard some noise down there, so we assumed Erica went that way. We followed the stairs down into another dingy hallway, with concrete floors, peeling wallpaper, an inch of dirt and dust and an occasional rat. The single light bulbs were separated every three feet, swinging from our footsteps. But Erica was nowhere to be found.

Until she wasn't. She popped up right in front of me, scaring the living daylights out of me. I gave an unmascualan scream. From behind me, Audrey snorted in amusement.

"Why are you following me, Ben?" Erica asked me harshly, spitting out each word.

Her face was glowing in rage, hate, hurt and… was that jealousy?

"I-um- thought you were here to help us." I said, shrinking under her gaze.

"I was here to help you," she growled, anger seeping through her words, "There is no 'us'. Last time I saw her, she betrayed me and the whole US working with SPYDER. And all of a sudden, you're with her? So now what I am I supposed to think? How do I know you're not with them?"

"I-ah-well," I was at a loss for words, "I thought you were going to help me."

"I was because I thought you were captured by enemy agents. Guess I was wrong. You were perfectly fine. You don't need my help. You have your girlfriend over there to help you." Erica looked furious as she said this. She started to hurry down the hall again. I had no clue what to say.

"Oh and you're any different?" Audrey finally spoke up, "Weren't you the one who decided to kiss Ben when you thought you were going to explode? How the heck is this any different?"

Erica wheeled on her, "Excuse me?"

"Yeah! I know about what happened between you and Ben in Vail. Did you really think you could have hidden that from SPYDER?" Audrey grinned a little at Erica's discomfort.

"Did Ben tell you?" Erica deflected.

"I didn't say anything!" I interjected quickly, not wanting Erica to be even more mad at me.

"No. SPYDER knows everything that goes on. They saw you kiss Ben. So explain this to me this: when I kiss Ben, how is that any different then when you kiss him? We both thought we were going to die." Audrey pointed out.

Erica looked furious, "Look, I don't care if you kissed Ben or not! I'm just saying you didn't need my help so I'm leaving you both."

"Oh that's BS and you know it!" Audrey taunted, "You're jealous of me because I kissed Ben for much longer than you and he enjoyed it!"

I enjoyed both kisses equally. (Okay maybe that's not true. I kind of liked Erica's more since I didn't expect it and had a crush on her.) But there was no way that I was going to say that. That would just add fuel to the fire.

Erica didn't say anything but just gave Audrey a level, cold stare. Audrey stared right back. I did not expect the punch.

Out of nowhere, Erica brought her arm back and punched Audrey right in the face. I gasped.

Audrey swore and staggered back, but didn't drop. I could already see a green bruise forming. Erica started to walk where Audrey was, but it didn't seem like she was going to fight her more.

Erica leaned over a staggering Audrey, saying, "Don't talk to-"

Suddenly, Audrey sprung up, taking us both by surprise and delivered a swift kick into Erica's chest. She wheezed but held firm.

This was so not the time for the sisters to duke it out. But I have to admit, it would be a great fight, since the one at Spy School was fake.

"Hey, hey," I tried to step forward, "Now is differently not the time to-"

"Shut up Ben!" Erica snarled, blocking one of Audrey's punches, "You're the cause of all this!" I retreated, not because of her words, but because I feared for my safety otherwise.

I guess what Erica said was true. Two very pretty girls were fighting over me. I'd always dreamed that would happen, but now that SPYDER is still out there and the secret service could be after us, now is not the best time.

Audrey launched another attack at Erica, trying to elbow her in the gut. Erica predicted this, but just barely blocked it. They were very evenly matched.

Erica went on the attack, kicking Audrey's knee and making her crash to the ground. As Erica went wheeled back to kick her, Audrey grabbed her foot and yanked Erica down with her. They both were on the ground, doing some weird wrestling thing.

I guess Erica did something painful to Audrey because Erica got back on her feet. Audrey staggered back up as well. They went back into punching each other. One would punch and the other would block it.

Since nothing was getting achieved, I tried to step in again since the more time we waste here, the farther SPYDER gets and the closer the secret service gets. I didn't know if they were chasing us or if they even knew about the bomb but we better get out of here nonetheless.

"Come on guys!" I stepped between them, "This is totally not-" But I couldn't finish my thought because a punch flew right into my cheek, making my whole head spin.

"I'm sorry! That was intended for Erica!" Audrey apologised as she blocked yet another attack. Erica completely ignored me.

I saw stars and suddenly I was on the ground. I couldn't believe someone had the strength to punch that hard. It was unfathomable that they could both be taking those punches in stride since one made me fall.

Finally, I grabbed the wall and made myself stand up. The fight was ending. They both seemed tried, but Audrey was purely exhausted. Erica swept her legs from under her and Audrey crashed to the ground once again. This time, she didn't have the strength to stand up.

Erica quickly pinned her down and layed a forearm against her throat. They were both panting heavily.

"Don't speak to me that way," Erica breathed, "I don't give a crap if you like Ben and your immature brain can't resist it to kiss him but don't disrespect me. This is your final warning. I won't be too forgiving next time. And I'm stuck will you and for some reason, Ben trusts you. But if you're a double agent, I will not hesitate to shoot you. We better get out of here before SPYDER gets here." Audrey just nodded.

Despite Erica saying she doesn't give a crap, she still looked like she's using all her self control not to murder Audrey on the spot. She still looked hurt and betrayed, the same look she had on when I looked in the farmhouse during the civil war reenactment. That was the moment she realized the boy she liked, Joshua, actually worked for SPYDER. That must have been the same thing. She finally liked someone else again and I betrayed her. I feel awful. But with Erica, I didn't know if she was feeling these ways since she shows as much emotion as the rat that was currently at my feet. The small amounts of emotion she was showing indicated so but who knows. The whole thing was messing with my head.

"Yeah, we better get out of here before SPYDER arrives." I said.

"Too late," an ugly voice belonging to Jacob Evanstein sneered.

We whirled around to Joshua, Mr. E and Jacob standing there with their guns drawn. As we turned around, Erica got her gun out as well, pointing it at them. But it was Jacob and Joshua's guns against hers. It was a losing battle.

They must have snuck up on us when they were fighting. Unless Audrey and Erica were super distracted like they were, they wouldn't have been able to sneak up on us. When they realized there was no smoking crater where Rump Towers was, no doubt they came looking for us.

"You are so hard to kill, Ripley!" Mr. E snarled.

We were still in a standoff, neither party moving.

"Miss. Hale, I believe you have something I want." Mr. E grinned evilly.

I turned to look at her in confusion. Next to Erica, Audrey did the same.

Erica narrowed her eyes but didn't take them or her gun off SPYDER.

"I don't believe I do."

"Oh you do," Mr. E said in a calm, chilling way, "You most definitely do. A folder that you stole from your little spy school. A folder that Audrey was supposed to retrieve, but failed too. A folder that I need."

Audrey gave Mr. E an icy stare.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Your little plan to bomb the tower is done. It's over. So why do you need this?" Erica asked.

"Simple. Sankibali is not going to be happy we failed. SPYDER does not fail. I do not fail. So we must have that to offer in a peace agreement to that country." Joshua must take after Mr. E and reveal the plans beforehand. They should learn better, since it's never worked for them in the past.

"That sounds like a you problem, not ours. And you did fail. On multiple occasions." Erica replied calmly.

"It will become your problem if you don't hand it over. So make it easy for all of us and give it now. I know you have it on you." Mr. E said menicently.

"No." Was Erica's simple answer.

"I'm done with this!" Joshua said impatiently. Without warning, he reached out and grabbed Audrey harshly by the arm. He put her in a headlock and pressed his gun against her temple. I gasped but Erica didn't react.

"Drop your gun and give us the folder. If you don't by a count of ten, your precious sister's brain is going to splat on the wall."

Erica's face was emotionless and her words were steel, "Do it. I don't care. Audrey might be related to me by blood, but she's no sister of mine."

 **Again, I'm not good at writing a fight scene. I hope you liked the outcome of that catastrophe. The issue isn't totally over yet. Thank you for your excitement and support. Is there any predictions you have, thoughts about the story or even things you want to see later as the story comes to a close? See you soon!**


	24. Family is Everything

**You guys are amazing! I cherish every review, comment, follow and favorite so thank you so much! Sorry for the long wait! I had state English testing and after a grueling essay portion, I did not want to write for a while. But here we are now! This story is getting such positive responses. I hope you all liked my take on Erica finding Audrey and Ben kissing. I wasn't totally sure how I wanted that to go but it didn't totally fail so that's good! I also realized I made Ben out to be a cheater and kinda a slut so… yeah. I don't think there's much I can do about that. It's also kinda weird he kissed both sisters (even if they're half sisters) but whatever!** **We got some new follows and favorites on this story!! Thank you so much for that! I appresiate the support more than you can ever imaigne! And thank you for everyone who leaves a review. Those make my day as well!** **Anyway, Enjoy the chapter!**

I swung my head around to give a baffled and angry glare at Erica. I'm sure Audrey's face mirrored mine. Even Joshua and Mr. E looked very thrown off.

"You-what? Excuse me?" Joshua tried to look like he expected this, when he clearly didn't, "I'm not bluffing Erica. I will shoot your sister in the head, no questions asked. I'm not messing around here."

Erica gave him a heartless stare, "I'm counting on it. I know you're not messing around. So do it, shoot her."

"Erica!" I gasped. But the rest of my thought was cut off by Joshua.

"So you're willing to let your sister die," Joshua's plan at getting the folder was clearly not working.

"Yes," Erica said, sounding impatient, "You don't need to keep recapping what I'm saying. Shoot her. Audrey's still the enemy, despite the blood relationship between us. It will take the work out of it for me."

I couldn't believe this was the same Erica I thought I knew. Was this the same Erica who risked her own life and career to save me from my own screw-ups?

"Erica!" Audrey cried out desperately. Erica shifted her hard stare to her sister, who still had a gun to her head.

"What?" Erica snarled, "Did you think that I forgot the fact you stole from Spy School, you released important government secrets, worked for a terrorist organization and played me as a fool? Do you think all is forgotten because of the tiny fact that you're my half-sister I didn't even know existed until a few weeks ago? You thought you'd get out scot free?" Her words were harsh. Even I winced for Audrey's sake. Joshua looked conflicted, seeing this was his plan to get the folder and it was failing. But Mr. E and Jacob looked very amused and intrigued, as if they were watching a cheesy soap opera. But Audrey looked the worse. She looked broken and sad. Her only hope was that Erica took her side against the CIA if we all returned, but Audrey finally realized Joshua was right. That the CIA would lock her up for good if she ever returned. Erica looked like she would never defend her. After all, Audrey's own sister was telling Joshua to kill her.

"Erica," Audrey said, close to tears, "I know I made mistakes in the past. I was bitter that Alexander left me and my mom to fend for ourselves. I wanted revenge and I found my way to get it through SPYDER. We needed the money and I young and ingorant. I joined a whole world of espionage that I had no idea existed when I was only thirteen. I was going in blind. When Joshua presented the idea to send me in to deceive the organization that hurt my mom, I jumped at the chance to get it. I wanted to hit the CIA and Alexander where it hurt. I met you and all I wanted to do at the time was kill you. But I didn't, because even I realized that wasn't right. I may had killed enemies of SPYDER in the past, but I couldn't kill my sister, despite what Alexander did to me. I beg you, return the favor. I never meant to do the things I did but please, don't let them kill me. I pretend to be as strong as you, but I know I'm not. I don't want to die. Please, Erica, I'm still your little sister." Finally, a tear rolled down her cheek. I felt my heartbreak for her. There was still a chance she was acting, but if she was and makes it out alive, she should become an actress. She could win an Oscar with that type of performance. But it seemed raw and real. That was Audrey's real story.

I could see Erica knew that too. She was an expert at reading people to see if they're lying or not, but it seemed that Erica knew she was telling the truth. Next to me, Erica kept her cold facade on, but I saw her eyes soften. And under the expression, I could tell there was some empathy, sadness and maybe even… dare I say protective love? Like Audrey said, she was still her little sister, despite everything happening right now. Audrey's story wasn't a good, happy one. It was messy. But if anyone else was in that situation, joining SPYDER would probably be ideal. If I were in Audrey's shoes, I would have done the exact same thing. I could tell Erica would have too.

Joshua noticed the change in Erica's face, "Aww what a cute story! I'll give you ten seconds to give me the folder or I'm shooting her. I swear." He was giving Erica a lot more chances to hand over the thing than I'd normally expect out of him. Either the folder was super important, or he didn't fancy shooting Audrey. After all, he did date her for a while and she is still very pretty.

"No," Erica drawled out, "I'm not giving you the dumb folder."

I stood in shock. Even after Audrey poured her heart out, Erica is still not going to help her. Maybe I was wrong about the type of person she is.

"Enough!" Mr. E snapped, "Erica, you have ten seconds. Joshua, in ten, nine, eight…"

"Fine!" Erica called out, surprising all of us from the abruptness.

"Fine what?" Mr. E stopped counting.

"I'll give it to you." Erica took a thin, black backpack (that I didn't even notice) off her back and started to unzip it. Mr. E, Jacob and Joshua looked at the backpack greedily. But my concern was that Joshua never let Audrey out of her choke-hold and still had a gun to her head.

When it was unzipped, I was expecting a yellow/gold mailing folder. The same folder that started all of this mess.

But instead, a gun and coin was removed. Before anyone could react, Erica dropped the coin, which released a type of smoke that made it incapable for me to see. But apparently, Erica could see perfectly fine as I heard a gun click and a dart go right into the neck of Jacob Evanstein. I heard him cry out and fall in a heap on the ground.

I also heard a groan of pain from Joshua. Whether it was Audrey or Erica, I couldn't tell, but the result was the same. He was out of commission.

Right near my head, I felt a whoosh of air and a fist connecting with the cheek of Audrey, who crashed to the ground a second later.

Some shuffling let me know Erica went into attack against Mr. E so I went to help Audrey.

Or, I tried. Since the smoke obscured my whole vision, I had to feel around to find her. My callused hand felt some soft skin and kept feeling around for her face.

"Get your gross fingers out of my nose, you idiot!" was the indication that I had found her.

The fight between Erica and Mr. E was still happening, but I heard her get in a couple more punches repeatedly, telling me Erica was winning.

The thick smoke was clearing up enough for me to see. Jacob was on the ground with a dart sticking out of his neck. Joshua was rendered unconscious in a more traditional style of a well-placed karate chop and a punch in the face. He was also sporting some very new bruises.

But they weren't important. Audrey lay in front of me, groaning and moaning. Her neck was littered with purple and green bruises and squeeze marks. Obviously, Joshua's choke hold was stronger than I thought. Her jaw was also super red and becoming more bruised. She reached out to touch her injuries gingerly. Audrey winced when her fingers came in contact.

I had no idea what to do to help her, "Um… are you okay?" I tried.

She gave me an annoyed stare, "Does it look like it?" But then she grinned in good humor.

I gave a weak smile back. The fight between Erica and Mr. E was almost over. It was evident Mr. E was used to a whole security force around him, since he wasn't very adapt in fighting. Because he went rogue against his own organization, a full security guard wasn't part of the deal and he was paying the price for it.

Erica was straddling and pinning him down, punching different parts of his face repeatedly. I saw her give a little grin as she punched him right in the teeth, knocking some out. She was enjoying herself a little too much.

"That was for hurting my sister," Erica smirked as she watched him swallow some of his own teeth.

I gave a disgusted gag and Audrey, finally standing, cleared her throat.

Erica reluctantly got off Mr. E and lugged him over to a pipe. Producing two sets of handcuffs from God knows where, she slapped one together on his wrists and connected the other one from the handcuffs to the pipe. Then she promptly slammed his head against the pipe, effectively knocking him out and leaving him with a little dent in his head.

With Joshua, she connected one hand to the pipe and cuffed the other hand to Mr. E's handcuff. And with Jacob, she connected one hand to Joshua's cuff and the other to Mr. E's. They were in a giant pretzel.

Erica turned to us and said, "We have to get out of here." I saw a little glint of excitement, but nerves in it. She was probably still cautious and sympathetic about Audrey and her situation. I know I was.

Audrey gave Erica a look I could only describe it as a loving family look and, without warning, Audrey sprung forward. Erica immediately put her fists up but they were useless. Audrey wrapped her arms around her sister and hugged her hard. At first, Erica was stiff with the sudden touch but eventually eased up and hugged her back. I never saw Erica voluntarily touch someone. I felt very much like a third wheel in this situation, but it was a very sweet sister moment.

There was a whisper, barely audible in the room that said, "Thank you, Erica."

Softly, muffled by Audrey's shoulder, I heard her reply, "That's what family's for."

And I smiled to myself.

 **I wanted their relationship to patch up because, in the end, they are still blood related.** **I also sorta wanted them to have a Gamora/Nebula Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 moment (shout out to all the Marvel fans) because they too had to figure out some family issues.** **Plus, I hope Erica didn't act you weird/OOC in that chapter. I felt like it was kinda iffy there. Sorry it took awhile but I hope it was worth it.** **Until next time.**


	25. Road Trip

**I know, long time no see. I kept having to rewrite this part because I wasn't sure how it should go but here it is. The end was going to be some long 6k something chapter so I split it into two parts. Second to last part of the story. Thank you for everyone who reviewed the past part. You know I love them!**

 **The story also got a new favorite/follow (I think I'm thanking you E3 ATA ;) So thank you so much for that! You take the time to review every chapter and it means the world to me.Thank you to Erica Hale for such a nice review!!! It made my day!**

 **Also, happy memorial day! Please thank members of the service that you know and remember all of the fallen. This chapter is dedicated to my grandpa, who served over forty years in the Navy and passed eariler this year. This is also deticated to my cousin's husband, who went missing in action in Vietnam and was found dead two years ago. He was only 26 but he gave his life for the country. I thank everyone who served and serves.**

 **On that note, please enjoy.**

I was beyond exhausted. Once the adrenalin wore off, the gravity of the situation sunk in. I had saved the world leaders of over a hundred countries. I (sorta) defeated SPYDER. And I was tired.

Once Erica and Audrey finished having their little 'moment', we trudged our way through the maze of a basement and somehow found a door that led outside. It was a relief to see. Sunlight, real natural light, hitting my skin. After being underground so long, I was starting to feel like a mole.

We got out of there just in time. Just as we got to a parking lot, a motorcade of police officers, security, secret service from a hundred countries and news vans sped towards Rump Towers. Apparently, according to the buzz on the streets, a few bomb-sniffing dogs were just being escorted out of the building at around 10:45 (forty five minutes after the meeting started) and the dogs suddenly went crazy when they were near the entrance to the basement. Security checked it out and found the bomb Joshua planted in the freezing room that stopped the bomb.

During this, Erica stole a car from the parking lot. (she claims she is so sick and tried of all this chaos, she doesn't care that she's stealing a car. And honestly, at this point, I didn't care either.) We hopped in the car and turned the radio on to the local news to get more updates on the situation. We started to head towards a drive-through coffee shop, since, according to Audrey, we earned the right to some caffeine after 'saving the world'.

The local news told us the bomb sniffing dogs and security found the bomb and could tell it was disabled by someone. After further investigation, they found a bunch of empty handcuffs, some cuffed to a pipe, deeper inside the basement. Secret service is scrambling to find whoever planted the bomb, whoever used to be in the handcuffs and even the people who dismantled the bomb.

This meant two things for us: Mr. E, Joshua and Jacob got away. Upon hearing the news, Erica swore loudly and Audrey kicked the dashboard. Erica also said it was impossible for them to have woken up this fast, since they were hit pretty hard on the head. Therefore, Mr. E must have gotten help, escaped and was still out there. But that was a fight for another day. They wouldn't make a risky move now that the government was on to them.

Another thing that the news meant was that the secret service was after us. Despite saving the day, we were still involved and the government would probably still want to question us and ask us why we ran instead of reporting it. But we didn't want to deal with that so we were going to flee.

The car we stole was a nonscript early 2000's Honda from the Rump Towers parking lot. The girls quickly called the front seat, so like a child, I was stuck in the back.

Because the government was after us, we had to run. Looking at Audrey's phone, we found that the secret service had some very blurry and grainy footage of us in the basement. Luckily, you couldn't distinguish anything about us or our features. All you could tell was that three people were there. But to be honest, a case could have been made that it was three orangutans. The video was that bad. There was some grainy shots of Mr. E, Jacob and Joshua, but the quality was equally bad, so there was no incriminating evidence. The government was in the process of getting the leaders and officials out of the tower.

We pulled into a local drive through coffee joint. The line was a mile long, seeing it was around 11:15 in the morning. Erica and Audrey were the only ones who could drive (despite the fact Audrey was still under age without a permit) and weren't too happy about it. Apparently, the rest of my friends back at the motel decided Washington DC wasn't safe from SPYDER or the government, so they made an executive decision to move out of the motel. According to a text from Zoe, they found a remote cabin they could stay in for a few days in the outskirts of Virginia. Unfortunately for us, it's at least a three hour drive (with no traffic and everyone knows in DC that's not possible). Erica was so exasperated that she promised to strangle Zoe and Jawa when we see them for making this decision without our consent.

But we were too tried to give a crap. We finally neared the front of the line for drinks. We found money in the glove compartment.

"Ben, what do you want?" Erica asked from the drivers seat.

"Um… a lemonade?" I replied sheepishly.

"A lemonade?" Audrey scoffed, "What are you-five? You're not getting anything caffeinated? How are you not about to fall asleep right now? I'm totally exhausted."

"Exactly," I retorted, "I don't want caffeine because I'm going to sleep on the long drive. If I get a coffee or something, I'll never sleep."

"I hate you," Erica grumbled as she bought our drinks. Again, I couldn't drive whatsoever and this was the first time I was thankful for that. I could snooze off while they had to stay alert.

After they teased me mercilessly for my lemonade, the drive became quieter. We were on our way to the new cabin hotel. I felt my eyes get heavier and heavier, to the point where I couldn't keep them open for much longer.

XXX

I don't recall a time where I had slept better in my life. Because I was alone in the back, I had the freedom to stretch out and fall into a beautiful slumber.

We hit a bumb that jolted me awake. I snapped open my eyes to see the wonderful outdoors of Virginia. Gone was the bustling town of Washington DC. Hello, wilderness.

I glanced at the clock and noticed I only slept for two hours. I prayed it would be easy to drift off once more. But suddenly, heard hushed voices from the front seat.

"I'm sorry," was Audrey's quiet statement. She was lounging in the passenger seat.

Erica glanced over from where she was focusing on the road and asked, "For what?"

"I think you know. Everything."

Erica was quiet, but she accepted this answer. This felt like a private moment, but there was nowhere I could go and I couldn't possibly go back to sleep now. They didn't know I was awake, but I wasn't going to let them know I was, because they really seemed to need this conversation.

"I am too," Erica finally said.

This took Audrey by surprise, "For what?"

Erica let out a big breath, "For being a jerk to you and almost letting Josh shoot you. You are still my sister."

Audrey gave a little laugh, "I think I deserved it. After all, I was with a terrorist organization. Which I'm sorry for."

"You shouldn't be saying sorry to me," Erica shook her head, "You did something despicable and totally wrong, but I can see where you're coming from. Hell, I probably would have done the same thing if I were in your situation."

"I know what I did was wrong. I knew right when I met Ben that it wasn't the lifestyle I wanted."

It warmed my heart to hear that from Audrey. She did manipulate me in spy school, but she ended up helping us in the long run. I was, yet again, a pawn to advance someone else's plan, but I am so used to it now that I'm sick of complaining.

"So what actually happened with Dad and your situation? If you want to talk about it."

Audrey gave a big sigh, "I'll start at the beginning. I hacked and put all of this informatuon together from the CIA website, my life and my mom. So this is what happened: Alexander had a mission in California. My mom wasn't crucial to the mission at all, and didn't know anything about his real job. She thought he was just a cute guy that she met in a bar. One thing lead to another, and well, they hooked up."

"What year was this?" Erica interrupted, asking that underlying question.

"A year before I was born." Audrey replied in a soft voice, "So were they…"

"Yeah," Erica snapped more forcefully than nessicary, "My mom and Alexander were still married." I saw her knuckles go white on the steering wheel.

Audrey put a calming hand on her shoulder, "I'm so sorry. Do you want me to continue still?"

"Of course I do." Erica kind of snarled, ovbiously unhappy at her Dad's choices, "Dad is a grown man and he can mess up his own life if he wants too. No wonder Mom and Dad broke up."

"So, that fling resulted in me. Mom didn't tell Alexander she was pregnant. She was going to wait until her baby bump started to show. But suddenly, without warning and overnight, Alexander disappeared. Mom didn't know Alex was on a business trip. She thought he was moving in for good. So when he just abandoned her overnight, she was heartbroken. Turns out, he failed that mission and was going to get hell from the top brass. Probably because he was distracted."

I noticed a cold look in Erica's eyes in the rearview mirror. I was as shocked as she that Alexander Hale would do such a thing and hide it all these years.

"So, he never knew I existed. Now with a baby, Mom was super unprepared for a child and couldn't work as much as she used too. She was going to rely on Alex, but he left. Money was always super tight. We lived paycheck to paycheck until I was in about sixth grade. It was so bad then, we got evicted from the apartment. So we moved onto my Uncle's farm. Things were considerably better there. Uncle Lee taught me how to shoot a gun and fight, since he was a retired Navy officer. I got really good, so I started to compete in competitons, for some money. Even though we were considerably better, two more mouths to feed and all the costs coming from us weren't cheap to Uncle Lee. I tried to help out best I could."

Audrey drew in a giant breath for this one. Her story was sad to hear and I could understand more and more why SPYDER seemed to be a perfect opportunity.

"I had just won my first competition in hand-to-hand when Joshua found me. He was charming, good looking and presented me with an offer. I had won $200 from that fight. He said, if I join this organization called SPYDER, he would give me, upfront, $5,000. And for every month I worked, I got $100. I also got free food and housing. But mostly, he said he knew about my father and how I could get my revenge on him. You can imagine how good that sounded to a thirteen year old girl. Mom and Uncle Lee wouldn't have to worry about me or food and I would give them $5,200 plus whatever I make with this new organization. And I would also repay my dad for the horrors he put us through. It was an offer too good to be true. I thought the gods graced me with him. I quickly agreed and my mom was totally on board.

"Erica, after that for a few years, I didn't care what mayhem we were causing with these schemes. If I got my money, I was happy. It didn't occur to me innocent people were dying or even when I killed someone they could have a family. I was a selfish jerk. But when the mission at Spy School came up, I jumped at the chance. I was finally going to get my revenge on my dad and destroy the school he loves. When I met you, all I wanted to do was kill you. It hurt me that Alexander had a daughter he loved and cared for, when he had a daughter he abandoned. But when I met Ben, I realized that even if you're mad or bitter, life needs to move on and there are sweet people out there. And I coudln't do it. I couldn't bring myself to kill you or even Alexander. But it didn't stop me from completing the mission assigned for me. I lured you all into SPYDER's trap. But when I realized the biggest scheme I've ever seen was going to happen, I couldn't let Mr. E take over the world. It'd be a nightmare. So I changed my path in life and here I am."

The car was silent for a few moments, letting us all take in the information.

"I am happy for you. You got dealt a bad hand in life but you made the most of it, in the very end. If I were in your situation, I would have definitely done what you did and even probably would have killed you and Dad. I might even kill him now for what I know he did. But I'm glad you didn't. And I know this sounds insignificant, but I'm sorry for what you've gone through." I had no idea where this compassion from Erica was coming from. But it was very sweet.

"Thanks. I don't know what kind of trouble I'm in but I know it'll be a lot." Audrey sighed.

Erica waved it off, "You did the right thing in the end. That's what matters. We'll worry about it later."

"Oh and Ben?" Erica added as my blood turned cold, "I know you've been listening the whole time."

I sat up and shrugged. They didn't seem to mind too much. But I felt myself getting sleepier as it is and I was fast asleep once again.

 **There you go! That was Audrey's whole story. This was going to be a monster chapter (in my opinion reading anything more than 5K gets a little tedious) so I split it into two chapters. Next one is the offical end of the story where it should clear all of the loose ends. Please comment about the loose end you want tied up so I make sure to incorporate all of them. Thank you so much for reading!**


	26. Everything is Okay

**I am so sorry this took so long. I finally finished all of my finals (I ended with a 3.8 GPA so I'm happy) and I could finally take this story off the back burner and finish it already! Good luck to everyone who has or has to take them. It is a 3.5K ish monster, but it is the final chapter of this story! It's a total bittersweet moment. Your support means everything to me and thank you for being patient. I hope it satisfies you and ends in a way that makes you happy. For the final time *cries* please enjoy.**

I drifted off again. This time, when I woke up, the car was stopped at a streetlamp. We were in what seemed to be a small town with giant trees surrounding us. It was very beautiful. Audrey was driving now, while Erica was dozing off in the passenger seat. They must have switched when I went back to sleep.

I noticed it had been almost five hours since we left DC. I was groggy but didn't want to sleep anymore, so I didn't mess up my sleep schedule.

"Are we there yet?" I whined, acutely aware of how much I was sounding like a toddler.

I saw Audrey smirk in the mirror, "We're only fifteen minutes away. Don't go back to sleep."

I sat up, still super bleary and decided I should be a good friend and wake Erica up. Without mercy, I started kicking the back of her seat, like those annoying kids who sit behind you on the airplane.

The seat started to shake and Erica jolted awake, swearing at me. Audrey snorted to disguise her laughter.

We finally turned off the main road and onto a barely used dirt path. The road was mainly gravel so we bumped along until we got to the end of the road. In front of us, there was a beautiful log cabin. It was only one story, but it had a wrap around deck and wood paneling. Behind it, you could see the mountains of Virginia. It took my breath away.

I wasn't the only one, "It's gorgeous!" Audrey exclaimed.

"Yeah," Erica said suspiciously, "How did they manage to afford it?"

Just as she said this, Zoe and Mike came out of the house, waving enthusiastically.

I jogged up to them, "Hey guys."

"Ben! How'd it go?" Mike called out.

"How the heck did you afford this?" Erica called before I could answer.

"Come in and I'll let you know!" Zoe waved us inside. I went in without protest.

It was even more magnificent inside. There was a stone fireplace, a vintage rug in the middle, and the wood paneling continued inside for the walls and ceilings. To finish off the cabin look, there were game trophies on the wall. I could see some moose heads, a few deer and even a grizzly bear trophy. It was supposed to be cool, I guess, but to me it was unnerving.

I plopped myself down on the couch in the living room. Audrey and Erica followed my lead.

Zoe and Mike sat across from us on the fireplace.

"It was so lucky we got this house! We were in town, trying to find a place to stay and this wealthy couple comes up to me. She says they were supposed to stay in the cabin for three more days but wanted to leave early. Apparently, the owner was going to charge them a crazy amount for leaving early, so she told us we're welcome to stay here free of charge for three days. Her husband even offered to get a cleaning service the last day, so we don't have to clean the house when we're done. So we have the house!" Zoe explained.

We all nodded. We had thwarted SPYDER. I don't know if it had sunk in yet, but I felt it in my body. I was exhausted but I remembered something that I totally forgot about during the SPYDER business.

"Um… can I talk to Mike and Zoe alone?" I asked, eyeing Erica and Audrey.

Erica gave me a dubious look but said, "Sure, I need to lie down. Because someone woke me up when I was trying to sleep." I shot her a taunting smile and she rolled her eyes. Audrey said nothing, but stood up and left as well.

"What did you want to talk to us about?" Mike's voice shook a little, sounding a little nervous. Zoe wasn't much better. Unfortunately, this just fueled my suspicions against them. They said some very strange things when they thought no one was listening. At the time, I thought they could be working with SPYDER, but nothing happened later that hinted a mole. So now I was wondering what they were about.

"Wait where are Murray, Chip, and Jawa?"

"Jawa and Chip are forcing Murray on a run on a trail around the lake outside. What's going on?" Mike asked.

"I want to know what you both were talking about on the balcony of the motel when you were alone."

"Excuse me?" Zoe snapped, "You were eavesdropping on our conversation?! That's so rude! That was meant to be private!"

"Well, you shouldn't say stuff to Mike like 'How long can we be able to pull this off?' and stuff like 'The secret's safe for now.' What I am supposed to think?!" I snarled back.

Mike shared a look with Zoe, "Ben, what do you think is happening?"

"You know exactly what I thought! And what about you bringing Erica hot chocolate at three in the morning?" I couldn't hide my anger anymore.

"You heard that?" Mike asked, incredulous.

"Oh, you didn't want me too? Because you were flirting with her because you know that I like Erica?" Sarcasm was dripping from my words.

"Well, how was I supposed to know that? Apparently, you had a sweet kiss with Audrey. So you don't like Audrey? Pardon me then!" Mike was getting mad as well.

"Look," Zoe interpreted, "this isn't helping anything. Mike, should we tell him about our plans?"

I still couldn't hide my surprise, "You mean the plans that, I quote, 'Failed too many times to count,' the plans that 'Will go into action?' Yes, please tell me!"

"Okay, um…" Mike sent a coy smile in Zoe's direction, "We're officially a couple."

That I did not expect. I expected something along the lines of "I've been spying on you for an enemy organization." I mean, their news is a happy surprise.

I wasn't sure how I felt about it though. There was a point where I had a crush on Zoe, but Mike was right. I had to pick someone to crush on. I couldn't decide everyone is off-limits. But overall, I was happy for them.

"Wow, I was not expecting that. Um… congrats. But that doesn't explain you guys were acting like that." I wasn't sure how to respond.

Zoe nodded, "I guess I'll explain it. Mike and I had a plan for a long time to get you and Erica together. And we were close so many times. We only became a couple three or four weeks ago. So we decided I was to be a jerk to you to get you mad at me. Mike was supposed to push Erica into your direction by being a good wingman. We didn't mean it to come off as flirty, as you said. It was a ploy to get you together. It was meant to be and it was sad to see you with Audrey since I can tell Erica is meant for you and you like her. So I was supposed to be kinda a jerk to you and Mike was supposed to point Erica in your direction. It was nothing more than that. We want you guys to be happy. But it probably doesn't matter because you evidently like Audrey since you made out with her. And we are a couple, so I was hoping you didn't like me anymore."

My eyebrows shot up and my eyes widened. I didn't know what to say. First, I was thankful for my friends trying to get me and Erica together but I didn't even know who I liked more: Audrey or Erica. But now I can eliminate Zoe since she's obviously is happy with Mike.

Part of me was wishing that the plan had worked. There was a loud and nagging voice in the back of my head was pointing towards Erica, since she didn't betray me. Even if she uses me without telling me what was going on. But she is so pretty…

Mike's voice snapped me out of my trancelike state, "So… are you mad?"

I was still a bit mad, but their intentions were good. And I couldn't stay mad at my friends for a long time.

I let out a big breath, "No, I'm not mad. Erica and I left things off at a weird place and we haven't really talked since. And I've barely even talked to Audrey since we got caught kissing. I don't really know what to do."

Zoe looked at me sympathetically and came to sit next to me. She put her hand on my knee and said softly, "Just talk to them. If I were them, I would be as confused as you are. They probably want to talk to you. Go up to them and talk. I'm a girl, I know that kind of stuff. Communication is key. And you might want to clear the air before our lives get hectic again."

I smiled at her appreciatively, "Thanks. I think I'll go talk to Audrey before I know what I want to say to Erica."

Zoe nodded, "Good idea. Mike and I'll go find the boys outside to leave the empty house for you. _Right_ , Mike?"

Mike looked up, startled, "Huh? Um… yep, we'll let you talk in private. And Ben? Thanks for not being mad at me." He smiled and they took the backdoor out.

I took a deep breath and went into the kitchen. I found Audrey leading against the counter, munching on some chips. She saw me come in and offered the sour cream and onion bag.

"Want one?"

I gratefully took a chip, "Thanks."

"So I'm guessing you're not here to grab a snack. What's up?" Audrey looked down on me with a glint in her eyes.

She had really pretty eyes. They were ice blue and gray, and glittered in the sunlight. Her hair was super pretty too, with long, blonde hair. But I had to stay on task. I've decided who I have a crush on.

"You're right, I'm not. I, actually, um… wanted to talk about… you know… that." I stuttered, still unsure about what to say.

The playful look in her eyes disappeared. She put the chip bag down and sat on the counter. I just stood there awkwardly.

"You're right. I wanted to talk to you about that as well. I just want to start this conversation, okay? I think you deserve that." She took a deep breath, "I know you heard my conversation with Erica earlier today. I want to say that I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or even join an enemy organization. I thought I had no choice then. I'm grateful you and Erica gave me a chance to change. But I'm sorry I used you for my benefit. I really did enjoy your company and that's basically what made me decided to switch sides. But I doubt that's what you wanted to talk about. I think you want to talk about that kiss."

As much as I tried to help it, my face started to warm up and turn red, "Yeah, I did. Was it real? Did you mean it?"

She let out a big breath, "I don't know what to say to not hurt your feelings. So I'll tell you the truth: I wanted to kiss you. I thought you were cute and innocent. But it didn't mean anything to me, relationship wise and I'm sorry if you thought that way or I lead you on. Truth be told, I thought we were going to die and if I was, I was going in style and happy. Isn't that the same reason Erica kissed you? To me, that kiss we had meant nothing. I hope we can continue to be friends though. I hope this doesn't ruin our relationship. I think you're a great guy, and for a while, I thought I had a crush on you but when I actually did kiss you, I felt nothing inside of me. Erica, however, I think did feel the sparks when she kissed you, but I don't know for sure. So, I'm sorry if you felt we had a future, but I don't feel that way. But I don't think you were hoping for a future in me. Am I wrong?"

I absorbed all of this information. I knew I should be mad at her, for using me and not liking me, but this actually made the conversation much easier.

"I did have a crush on you for a while. But my thoughts kept going back to Erica and I was very conflicted for a while. You have personality, but Erica… well… she's Erica. I knew her longer and already had a crush on her. I would say sorry for hurting your feelings, but I don't think I am. For once, I think we're on the same page. We liked each other for a while, but don't anymore. I decided that I choose Erica. I have a crush on Erica and kinda always had, but that thought got tested when you arrived. And that kiss… it felt great at the time. It was a much better kiss than Erica's peck on the lips. At that moment, I thought I knew that I had a crush on you. And I also thought I was going to die. And when we didn't, I thought I was going to die when Erica caught us.

"

Audrey's cheeks turned bright red, "Yeah, she has the worst timing. Did you talk to her about it?"

"No, but I want too. Plus, you're right. I didn't feel anything but excitement and nervousness about dying during that kiss. I felt something more with Erica. And wait… how do you know Erica felt sparks when she kissed me?" I asked, almost sounding a bit too giddy.

Audrey just gave me a conspicuous smile, "Just a hunch. You should talk to her."

"Yeah," I breathed, "I should."

"So we're good?" Audrey looked a little apprehensive, "We both used to like each other but not anymore? No more awkwardness between us? We can still be friends?"

"Yes," I was very sure of it, "Definitely. We can pretend it never happened."

"Oh, it happened," Audrey smirked, and then smiled in a playful manner, "I know what you mean. So we're officially done with all of this?"

"Yeah, we're done."

She smiled and suddenly jumped off the counter and grabbed me into a big hug. It took me by surprise but it was a welcome surprise. I think we both needed it. We quickly hugged then pulled away.

"Go outside and talk to Erica. And let Mike and Zoe know I'm happy for them." Audrey grabbed the chip bag again.

"How did you know?" I asked as I was leaving.

"Oh please," she said, rolling her eyes, "I blind man could see that. And plus, I'm a spy. It's my job to know things."

That sounded awfully familiar. I smiled in good nature and left the house, looking for Erica.

XXX

I didn't find Erica at first but found Jawa and Chip with Murray.

"Are you looking for Erica?" Jawa called out to me as I was walking down a dirt path behind the cabin.

"Yeah, where is she?" I jogged over to them.

"Down by the lake. She told us not to bug her, but I think she wants to talk to you." Chip said.

"Thanks," I quickly responded and walked down the rest of the path.

The path leads to a large clearing with a beautiful, placid lake. It was quite large but didn't have a single ripple in it. Trees lined the calm water, and it was almost silent out there, save for a single bird. It was so pretty, it took my breath away.

But more importantly, Erica was sitting on a log, watching the lake. I knew she heard me as I approached, but she didn't say anything. Unsure of what to do, I just sat next to Erica on the log and said nothing.

We stared at the calm lake together, not saying a word and not looking at each other.

Finally, I couldn't take the silence and turned to look at her.

"Look, I just wanted to say, I'm sorry."

"For what?" She asked, turning towards me.

"Everything," I said simply.

"Everything?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, "You mean kissing Audrey everything, right?"

"Um… yes." I admitted, then continued, "Look, it didn't mean anything! She pulled in for the kiss and then I… I don't know I kissed her back! The room was cold and I… well… I don't have any feelings for her."

Erica turned back towards the lake, "I know."

"Look, I know you're probably mad but-wait what? You know?" I asked incredulously.

"Yeah," was all she said.

"What?" I demanded.

"Look, Ben," she turned towards me, "I actually did talk to Audrey after the drive. We actually talked about the kiss and how she didn't feel any feelings towards you. She thought that you didn't have any either. I don't care either way. What you did with Audrey isn't my business."

"No, wait! No, Erica, I don't like Audrey. I like… you." I said sheepishly.

"Sure you do," Erica's words dripped in sarcasm.

"No, I do!" I said quickly, "I've had a crush on you since I met you."

"You used too. You don't have to lie to me. Then why would you kiss her so long and passionately?" Despite Erica's hard words, I could tell she was wondering that question. She was awful at social cues and being social in general.

"I thought I was going to die." I said weakly, "But that kiss really didn't mean anything. I didn't feel anything with Audrey. When I kissed you, I… really did feel something. I hope you did too." God, I sounded like a cheesy rom-com.

She turned towards the lake, "I suppose I should apologize to you. I'm sorry I used you and manipulated you throughout the mission. But I guess I should stop saying sorry since I do it every single time."

Wow, Erica. Nice smooth change of topics. "You're ignoring my comment. Did you feel anything when you kissed me?"

She was quiet for what felt like centuries. But quietly, I heard her whisper, "Yes, I did."

A sharp gasp escaped me. I couldn't stop the goofy smile on my face. "Really?" I said, sounding way too excited.

Erica turned towards me and smiled. Suddenly, she leaned towards me with her lips slightly parted. I felt myself getting drawn to her, like a moth to the light. Our lips made contact and we were kissing. It wasn't as rushed or as passionate as my kiss with Audrey. But I certainly felt something. I little spark shot up my body like a rocket.

"Yes, you little idiot," Erica muttered into my lips, sending vibrations throughout my body, "I mean it."

She quickly changed positions and her head was tilted the other way, giving me control. I kissed her and it just felt like the world was right again. I kept pursuing my lips and she followed my movements. It was wonderful and real.

Finally, we pulled away. My whole face was tomato red and she was just smirking at me. I felt the happiest I'd ever been.

Without a word, Erica turned back to look at the lake. The sky was blue, without a cloud. The lake was still calm and even the birds stopped chirping. I turned towards the lake as well.

I couldn't stop looking at how peaceful Erica seemed. I noticed her hand resting on her knee and, without thinking, I reached over and put my hand over hers.

She jolted in surprise but, without even sparing me a glance, laced her fingers through mine. We looked at each other and gave a big smile.

And at that moment, I knew everything was okay. Despite what life threw at us, I knew we would be okay. Everything would be okay.

 **Well, there you go. I hope the end was what you wanted and how you wanted it to end. And I honestly hope you really enjoyed the whole story. I had so much fun making it, and if you had at least half the fun reading it as I did writing it, I'd be happy. Again, I'm sorry it took so long. It would be cruel to ask for comments, but… as the last chapter? Please? I'm going to post an author's note sometime soon about my upcoming projects, thank yous, all that good gross mushy stuff. It may not be soon, as my last day is Friday and I have parties, graduation stuff, and end-of-the-year trips. But seriously, you guys are the best readers an author could ask for and I'm so grateful for that. I really hoped you enjoyed my story. And I just love the Spy School community!**

 **Alright, before I get super cheezy and stuff (I'll save it for the author's note) thanks for everything. I love you all,**

 **~Sojie204 :)**


	27. Final Authors Note

**Intro to a LOOONG Author note**

Well, my friends, this is the end of Spy School: Clash of Spies (which I kinda think now is a cringy name but too late ;)

Also I was going to add this way later but then I thought people didn't care… anyway I'm sorry for the over month wait. But you're probably used to me being an a-hole and not updating for a while ;)

I can't believe it. As of now, July of 2019, the story reached 15 likes and 13 follows! That is literally insane and I owe everything to you guys. It means so much go me.

I really grew as a writer throughout this journey. I mean, I started it officially on fanfiction in October of 2018. Now, we're in July of 2019! The story came along with me during this whole school year, going through the ups and downs I went through. Writing this, a lot has happened to me. I lost two very close family members and completed middle school. I'm off to high school!

I was reading it back the other day and honestly cringing a lot. You know when you go through old papers or schoolwork and are like man, I was stupid back then. Or like why did I write that? That's what I felt like re-reading it. I mean, in the first few chapters, Erica was a bit OOC in her interactions and my writing tense was shifting all over the place. But as the year progressed, my writing got better (thanks Grammerly and maybe school...) and some chapters I'm so proud of. Your feedback as well really helped.

I became a better writer this year so thank you for reading and reviewing my story so I can continue doing what I love.

God I wrote way too much in the introduction.

 **Random story stuff**

There were some stuff I put in that I wanted people to catch but no one did (haha lol maybe they just sucked idk).

I don't know how many of you are from the US but Rump (butt) Towers was inspired by Trump Towers.

And the chapter Tower of Terror was supposed to be foreshadowing for Rump Towers and the terror when they're locked inside with the bomb... ok now that I'm saying it out loud, it's awful. Hahaha whatever.

Also, major plot points changed throughout the writing as I read comments and suggestions. Originally, Audrey wasn't Erica's long-lost sister, but just a boring, talented kid. But in the shower (why do all my good ideas come in the shower? Does that happen to anyone else?) I thought, why couldn't Audrey be her sister? And I started writing her in as a sister.

And I hated Stuart Gibbs' love triangle with Zoe and Erica so I ditched that one and created my own! (Hypocritical much?) But let's be honest here, I still think Zoe and Mike will become a thing.

And LOTS of stuff came on the fly, like Jacob Evanstein being Mr (or I guess Mrs now) E's nephew. Lots of it was inspired by theories and suggestions made.

Here's the original list of ideas I had two months before I even started the first chapter:

Erica is mad at new girl just as skilled as her

New girl is Audrey Sidebottom (principal daughter)

They argue a lot

Audrey works for SPYDER

Hank helps Audrey

Audreys motive is that her dad was never around as a child and didn't even help her mom when she had cancer. Her mom died and Sidebottom never cared.

Audrey is at the academy because there is no one to take care of her

Audrey is Josh's cousin therefore josh's stepdad is Audreys moms brother

Audrey leaves death threats to Ben and Murray.

Ben must team up with Erica and Murray but Ben doesn't trust him

Erica gets kidnapped and he must do it alone with Murray.

Murray wants to seek help of Audrey but Erica warned them not to

What everyone doesn't know is Erica knew Audrey was evil, but they kidnapped Erics's 6 year old sister and threatened to kill her if Erica talks.

Murray and Ben must team up to save Erica, her sister, stop Audrey and thwart SPYDERS plan. But is there another enemy in the mix? A more personal enemy?

Erica having conflict with self and Ben

Audrey took advantage of Sidebottom therefore Sidebottom is fired and Alexander Hale is hired.

Alex is hired because no one likes the job of principal and gives it to him, who's career was based on lies

SYDERS evil plan is to create a huge terrorist attack in many countries to get the united nations together and when they are, then blow them all up. But Ben stops them with the help of Erica and Murray

But Erica turns sides with threat from SPYDER and captures ben and murray

Ben and murray and erica's sister convince her to be good again

Oh and side note, thanks for putting up with my annoying cliffhangers. I'm just so mean (insert evil laugh track from Physco).

 **Thanks And Acknowledgments**

I would like to individually recognize everyone who reviewed (I would thank everyone who liked/followed but idk how to see that lol) for any or all chapters. In no particular order, THANK YOU SO MUCH to:

manonlenoir06

iMgRaTe

VeronicaEl16

DAOnlyMoose

AgentIggy

Guest

ATA or E3 ATA

DaRealOnes

TheRightStuff1950

Jjenkins 0907

TotallyNoMe

Perseus

Cahlel Barthlow

Lucas1lopez

Alya

A fan

percyprimrosepotter

Meh

update soon pls

BlackCat896

Someone

DaBlueVanellope

Veronicaiscool

And to anyone I missed, I'm sorry and please let me know and I'll add you on.

All of your comments are great, encouraging and constructive. It means so much to me you take the time to read and review my work, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. Each review makes my day.

A special thanks to those four or five people who review every chapter. You guys know who you are and by now I bet you know how much I appreciate it but I'll say it again: Thank you. Everyone leaves such encouraging, kind and sweet comments on my chapters. I'm not gonna lie, and I'll try to say it as masculine as possible, some made me shed some weird eye fluids that were a very close resemblance to tears. Haha all joking aside, thank you.

But to all of the unknown, unsung heroes who read the story! I get comments from like 5 people, but 150 people read the chapter, so thank you to everyone reading each chapter. And to the people who are just surfing for a good read; thanks for stopping by!

Also thanks to everyone in total who read it. Last I checked, over 4.5K people read this!! It was the greatest thing that happened to me as a writer, more people reading my stories. I still can't get over the fact that over 4K people read this! I still get excited when my cringy YouTube comment reaches 3.3K likes lol.

But overall, thank you to the whole spy school community who supported me, guided me and helped me through writing, life and FanFiction.

 **Upcoming Projects**

So I have a few ideas for other stories. I have a Crazy Rich Asians one (liked the book and loved the movie). I have a Ready Player One idea and even a Marvel Cinematic Universe idea... (But because of the result of Endgame I'm rethinking it). I also have an idea for a totally original story!

And, as much as I'm trying to ignore it, there is still yet another spy school fanfic rattling around in my head. This was my second and to do three in a row would be a lot, especially in only about a year's time. This has a good chance of not happening because it's really weird and different and wild. It has some interesting themes and I'm worrying about OOCness the most (the way to mess up a fanfic is if all the chapter are ooc). But it may be too tempting not to write so it might happen. The idea is so weird and crazy and will most probably not happen, but the glass is half full people.

I won't write the summaries yet in case they don't actually happen and people get excited or if someone copies it before I can write it (I know you guys won't do it but someone might. I learned my lesson on another project for a whole different writing thing. But if they are happening, I'll post about it in my Announcements.

The bad news is that they might not happen for a long time. I'm starting high school and with that plus my demanding sports, updating relatively quickly is out the window. This story had some very long breaks that even I was getting annoyed because I had NO time! I mean, for me, two weeks is WAY TOO LONG and I went three sometimes four weeks in between chapters. So if this is going to happen, I would like to write 80-90% of the whole story before I even begin to publish it. There's no pressure to get it out (the pressure results in sucky chapters) and I can tell a cohesive story that all fits together if I want to change something later. The chapters, when I publish them, will come out every three days or something.

Due to my annoyingly busy schedule, you might not see some new work anytime soon. However, I'll still be here reading your stories and reviewing them. I am truly sorry about that.

This authors note became way too long.

 **Final Note**

I really had a great experience doing Wattpad. I learned so much and got some support I never thought I'd get. You all are so supportive, nice and helpful when I was and still am, navigating this journey. I've built friends I believe in this wonderful community.

There isn't much else I can say because I think the past 1.3k words say it all but THANK YOU spy school community for accepting me, all these amazing reviewers, readers and voters and thank you Stuart Gibbs for this amazing series.

And MOST IMPORTANTLY: #BERICA FOR LIFE!!!

You guys mean the world to me,

-Sojie204


	28. SequalUpdate

Update 12/31/19

I HAVE PUBLISHED A SEQUAL TO SPY SCHOOL CLASH OF SPIES!!!

It is called Spy School Reunion and I have posted chapter 1 now! I am going to publish the first three chapters (one per week) and then wait until I finish writing the book (which will probably be months) to post the rest of it.

Check it out please! Here is the summary:

"In conclusion, the Academy of Espionage will be closed forever, effective immediately." Those words changed Ben Ripley, Erica Hale, Audrey Hale and the whole Spy School crew forever. Ten years later, Ben and the rest of them moved on with totally new lives. One settled down with a family, another is a star athlete and one is even one of the most famous influencers in the entire world. Everyone moved on to bigger and better lives, except Ben Ripley. Living as a modest accountant, his world gets flipped around with some personal trouble and when an old enemy resurfaces. Will he be able to get the gang back together from their busy lives for one last mission?

Please check it out and give me feedback! Thank you so much!


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